Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 1: After the Fire
by Nitebreaker
Summary: What if one of Raven's spells succeeded in freeing Terra from her stone prison? What would she do? Would the Titans ever accept her back? And, Imost important of all, how would Beast Boy take it? BB/Terra and Robin/Starfire mostly, with some add-ons, as you'll see. And I just may later on turn up the juice, an' see what busts loose...heh heh heh. Rated M for language, mostly.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, let me start out by saying this story did not begin with me._

_It was originally posted by the writer whom I know only as OobluebubblesoO as "Resurrection," and was to've taken place sometime after the episode "Aftershock, Part two," of the __Teen Titans__. The premise…well, you'll read it, it's fairly easy to place._

_OobluebubblesoO posted several chapters, before a drunken driver rendered her unable to continue. Those of you who write, you know that we don't write for money, or fame, or glory, or to show everybody how smart we are. We write because….we sorta have to. It's what we __do.__ If you don't write, you may not understand, but if you do….you know what I'm talking about. So aside from wrecking her life, the accident prevented her from continuing a most important part of it. I corresponded with her (through her friend, XxinLovingmemoryxX), and she very graciously gave me her approval to proceed. Please, please, everyone who reads this: drinking and driving is a remarkably stupid idea. It costs. It may not cost a life, but it does cost money, loss of driving privileges, and it can cost the universe of a stellar-grade talent such as OobluebubblesoO. Don't do it. Dying isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. Not by a long shot._

_As to how this story came about (scratches head), I….dunno. I had copied the story to my computer, in Word format, and, late one night, got really really bored (always a dangerous condition for me) and began just….doing little things. Punctuation. Spelling. A word change here. And, oooh, italics would look so cool there…._

_Before you could say," "sneak," "snake," "snuck," and, of course, the pluperfect,"(had) snucken", I had something like what you see. As I said, it's not, originally, my story, and I'm not trying to highjack it. So: fair warning: the first few chapters aren't mine; I've altered them only the tiniest amount in order to preserve continuity with later chapters, and in keeping my best to the animated series/comics canon. And it's not finished, by any means. It is a collaboration, and a tribute, and it is written with the earnest hope and heartfelt prayer that OobluebubblesoO will overcome her handicap and write some more. I look forward to reading it! _

_Oh, I guess I should mention: I don't own any of these characters. Wish I did…_

_Rated M for future chapters and language._

**Resurrection**_**: Phoenix Ascending**_

A Collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker

Chapter One: After the Fire…

It had been two years.

It was a bright June day, the sun shining radiantly through the sky, clouds rolled lazily past in big puffy forms, and birds chirped happily outside the T-shaped building.

An 18 year-old green-skinned boy lay curled in his bed, his head hidden by the sheets and his body curled into a semi-fetal position. Words echoed through his head, unbidden, unwanted…

'_Haha, Beast Boy, you're so funny!' _

'_Are you ok, Beast Boy?' _

'_Destroy me quick!' _

'_I have to stay.' _

'_I'm the only one who can stop it.' _

'_You were the best friend I ever had.'_

'_Beast Boy.' _

'_Beast Boy.' _

'_BEAST BOY!' _

"SHUT UP!" he finally screamed, bolting upright, then throwing his pillow into the door, his breathing labored and heavy, a cold sweat glistening on his skin.

It had been two years.

Two years since the girl he liked so deeply was turned into a cold piece of stone on this very day, saving Jump City and all of its residence, including the Teen Titans.

Her name was Terra, and she had done horrible things.

She had given herself over to a man who was deeply twisted, letting him brainwash her into a virtually mindless slave to do his bidding, hunting the five of them down one by one. The betrayal was deep, cutting through every Titan like a rusted metal knife, leaving aching edges and deep wounds that couldn't be fully healed, and a haunting memory that would not fade with time.

"Beast Boy! My friend, are you harmed?" Starfire asked worriedly, knocking rather hard on his door.

"I'm fine, Star, just go away." He said, somewhat rudely, and fell back onto his mattress. His arms were outstretched, his hair, grown a bit longer than…back in those days, splayed across the pillow and his green eyes were staring at the ceiling.

"Beast Boy, please, do you not wish to go pick the flowers and take them to Terra's memorial?" she asked. Internally, he cringed at the thought and reflexively rubbed his shirt just above his heart.

"Not right now, Starfire, just go on without me."

He could hear a faint sigh and then her footsteps retreating down the hallway. Good, some privacy. Starfire was a good friend, but sometimes a guy just wants to be alone.

Maybe he could go visit the memorial, by himself. Just by himself. His depression might go away after he got it off his chest and maybe, just maybe he'd be back to his old tofu-loving, video game-playing self. Maybe.

He picked through his pile of clean clothes and pulled on something nice to visit her, a black-collared long sleeve shirt and some black jeans. He slicked back his hair and opened his window. With little effort, he morphed into a crow and flew out over the blue sea that surrounded his home. The sea glittered brightly, whitecaps shining in the sun, almost as if nature herself was cheering his decision. His thoughts were all on the former Titan: her pale blue eyes, the silken blonde hair, the peach colored skin, and the laughter that turned his insides to jello.

'_You were the best friend I ever had.' _

'_I wish we were more than friends.' _

He swooped into a nearby garden and quickly picked a few flowers, taking the purple and white ones, her favorite color combo.

Within minutes he was at the entrance of the shrine, a large hole that led into the chasm that held the last place on Earth she ever touched. With a deep breath, he walked into the dark hole and felt his way through the achingly familiar rock. Beast Boy switched on his flashlight and walked through the narrow tunnel, ducking every now and then, realizing he had gotten taller since he first came here. Was it a lifetime ago? Or did it just _feel_ that way?

Streams of light shone through the top of the cave, illuminating the pathway enough to where his flashlight was no longer needed. He recognized the same cracks in the wall and floors, the same boulders that lined the cave walls and the same smooth grooves that was once magma.

"Hi, Terra, sorry I haven't visited in a while, it's just that I. . . . . ." he began.

Reality telescoped and time seemed to stop, his grasp on the small bouquet slackening, the flowers falling to the floor. His eyes went wide with shock, his mouth agape in awestruck surprise, and each muscle felt as if it were encrusted in ice.

She was gone.

A pile of rubble lay where her statue (where _she_) once was, and a small trail of it led to the alternate exit on the other side of the cave. He threw himself towards the pile and searched frantically through it. She couldn't have crumbled into bits, she COULDN'T!

"Terra. . . .Terra. . . . no, Terra, please!" he cried as he felt his fingers begin to sting as the rocks dug into hands. Tears sprang into his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

"TERRA!"

The boy looked at his now-bloody hands, the salty tears dripping down his chin and onto the pile of rubble that was once his friend.

"Terra. . . . . ." he whispered, placing his forehead onto the rock, a choked sob escaping his quivering form.

He froze again, his nose twitching as he sniffed the rubble. Even in human form, his sense of smell was extremely acute. Her scent was too strong; when he visited last year her scent was there, but faint and washed out by the rain.

With only a thought, he changed into a bloodhound and sniffed the rubble eagerly, the scent flooding his senses as he followed the trail that was the strongest. He followed the rubble that led east towards the alternate exit. To his amazement the trail was not rubble, not rock at all, but bits and pieces of the metal armor that Terra had been wearing two years ago, crumbling into fine dust with every step.

Beast Boy howled, a high pitch sound, and dashed after the path laid out for him, his heart racing wildly as he sought eagerly for any chance sight of her blond hair or her thin body.

His ears perked forward and he heard a frail scrabbling sound and….something erratic; breathing, maybe? Another howl; he ran forward again, her scent now enveloping him.

It was possible, it was possible; the green dog remembered those long hours of study and research to reverse the effects of her state. His friend Raven had tried multiple spells and magicks , but all had failed, until one day she had tried one that had taken every ounce of magic out of her, leaving her bed-ridden for three days.

'_This spell never has a definite outcome; it only works with intentions that are pure of heart.' _

'_Do you think with our intentions it'll work?' _

'_I don't see why not; we all loved Terra. But the catch is, it isn't totally up to us. The spell looks into the person being revived. And it never tells you when or whether it will actually take place. It could happen anytime between thirty minutes or thirty years.' _

'_WHAT?' _

'_Calm down, Beast Boy. This spell looks deep into the person it's reviving. It digs into their very core, their soul, and it takes the time out of every bad thing they've ever done. Think of it as prison: whatever bad deed she's done, that delays the effects of the spell.' _

"I've got to get out. . ." said a weak voice; pebbles tumbled down the steep slope and hit the green dog in the face.

Her body was wrapped in bandages, her hair scraggly and mussed, and her hands pushed feebly at the large boulder blocking what was once an exit.

"TERRA!" Beast Boy yelled once he changed back and the green teen dashed towards the girl, who was now startled and pressed into the rock.

"BEAST BOY!" she cried and ran to him, although it was more like tripping and falling. They both rolled across the rock in a tangle of limbs and landed on top of a very jagged rock. He held her in a tight hug as she cried his name over and over again into his chest.

"Terra, Terra, you're back." He whispered and rubbed the girl's back. No coherent sentence could get past her hysterical sobs.

"Beast Boy, I'm so sorry, I just. . . you guys, with Slade and I. .!" she babbled between her crying, her blue eyes shining with tears, wide with regret and guilt.

"Shh, shh, it's ok, it's ok. I'm here, we all forgave you. . . .it's just. . . Welcome Home, Terra." He sighed softly, burying his nose into her hair.

"It's good to be home." She whispered back, hiccupping into his chest.

Beast Boy's communicator made a loud beeping noise, signifying a call. He took it out of his pocket and his grin stretched wide across his face, his old self coming back.

"Hello?"

"Beast Boy! Where are you?"

"I'm at Terra's Memorial. . . . and Robin. . ?" his green eyes gazed into the pale blue ones which were now round and nervous, a lock of her blonde hair covering one of them. He smiled warmly and moved it so he could see her face fully.

"What is it, Beast Boy?"

"Tell Raven to bring some spare clothes. And have Cyborg pick up some pizza."

"What? Beast Boy what are yo-?"

"Just trust me, Robin, you'll see when you get here."

The green boy hung up his phone and then grinned down at his old friend, his only emotion, happiness and joy, dominating every other sense he had.

"Aren't you excited to see the others?"

"Beast Boy. . . . I don't think they'll be happy to see me." Terra confided softly, her gaze flickering down to the floor and her hair covering her eyes again.

"Of course they are!"

A bright green light shone through the cave entrance the Titans were coming from, signifying that they were here. That was fast, even for them.

"You ready, Terra?" he whispered to her.

She squeezed his hand and gave him a timid smile.

"Yeah. I-I g-guess."

'_I'm alive, I'm standing with Beast Boy in a cave. I can feel the warmth of his palm, I can see him, I can even smell him. Is that cologne he's wearing? I never noticed, before.'_

Terra was still a bit dazed, her mind reeling with the sudden rush of events; she hadn't really been using it since she last saw the Titans, how long ago was that? She remembered feeling terrified before she finally let all her feelings go into her last attack, the one that she hoped saved Jump city. She squeezed her friend's hand, seeking some reassurance. Starfire's bright green light shone brighter as they got closer and she could hear Cyborg's metal feet clanking against the cave floors. The blonde girl began to tremble. She could feel her legs shaking.

'_I can't do this, not after all I've done.' _

"Terra, it'll be ok," Beast Boy whispered in her ear, as she shivered and goose bumps rose on her arms. She used her blonde hair as a shield from their faces; the locks covered her pale blue eyes. Her free hand fiddled with the tattered cloth that was her only clothing for now.

"Yo, BB, where are you?" Cyborg hollered.

"In here, guys!" Beast Boy shouted back excitedly. Terra still trembled and Beast Boy leaned into her a little, putting his arm around her, supporting her.

"Beast Boy, my friend, are you-" Starfire gasped and her light went out for a moment as she gaped in shock, but she quickly regained the energy and ran full speed to her old friend.

"TERRA! TERRA, IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!" Starfire squealed with joy, her Tamaranian strength catching Terra in a death hug. Terra gasped for breath. Beast Boy could have sworn he saw a piece of Terra's soul trying to escape from her mouth.

"Terra . . wha-" Robin was now staring speechless. Then a grin spread across his features as Cyborg, catching up, almost dropped the pizza that he brought.

"Star. . . fire. . . . can't . . . breathe!" Terra grunted and Starfire released her with an embarrassed apology. Robin was beside her in an instant and so was Cyborg, both grinning happily.

"Terra, I'm glad you're ok!" Robin said with pure delight, Terra gave him a timid smile in return, thankful his delight was not false. Cyborg ruffled her already messy hair.

"Nice to see you. Hungry?" He held out the pizza in front of her and her mouth watered instantly. She had gone so long without food, her senses were now roaring with the demand of the delicacy in front of her and she nodded, taking a piece and biting into it; it scorched her tongue but she didn't care, it was food and that was all that mattered. But in the midst of her eating she realized that one was missing.

Raven.

She swallowed the last bite of her slice and gulped it down, finding it a little hard once she began to remember the fight they had in the oil: Raven's sudden rage burning through Terra's memory as it showed her how truly angry the dark teen could get. Her eyes flickered around for the hooded Titan, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Raven?" Robin asked following Terra's gesture not too long afterwards, he called her name a few times and then stopped and picked up the clothes Raven had carried.

"She must have left," Cyborg concluded and Terra felt her stomach twist.

She wasn't surprised, but after the warm welcoming from the other Titans, she had kind of hoped Raven would at least give her a 'hi'. But after her betrayal, Raven had hated her; she could see it in her violet irises just before she turned to stone.

"We'll check on her soon enough. Here, Terra, here's your old clothes, and then you can sit and eat." Robin said and set her clothes down in front of her.

Just then his communicator began to beep; Robin answered quickly.

"Raven? What's the trouble?"

"Killer Moth just released a swarm of his experiments on the city. That's why I'm not there right now."

"We're on our way. Hang on," Robin commanded, then shut his communicator. He looked at Terra apologetically, and she shook her head with understanding. They were the Teen Titans; stuff liked this happened all the time.

"Beast Boy, you take Terra home. The rest of us will handle Killer Moth." Beast Boy nodded and was already standing close to the blonde, the three of them dashed out of the cave and left the pair alone once more.

"Sooooo, you must be wanting a long hot shower and some drinks with the pizza, huh?"

Terra, who was still in a bit of a blank state, reawakened from it and nodded, her lips turned into a smile at the thought of a shower. She felt dirty and grimy. As for the food, she wanted to swallow the pie whole.

"Come on, Terra . . . Let's go home." The green young man's hand was outstretched, waiting for her to take it, just like before, and without any hesitation whatsoever, she did. They made for the cave entrance.

Home.

She hadn't heard that term for a while, either. She closed her eyes, letting Beast Boy guide her, and remembered her various treks before she met the Titans. Her search for a home, a place where she belonged, where people would love her and want her near; but it was always thrown away every time she lost control of her power and caused devastation.

Tears budded in her eyes; one leaked over her bottom lip, down to her chin, and she smiled joyfully at the thought of her destination.

Home.

She was going home.

_And even though no one noticed it, the universe got just a tad larger that day…._

_To be continued._


	2. Chapter 2: A New Beginning

_Well, here's chapter two in "Phoenix Ascending." As before, I do not own these characters. Please read and review, and thanks!_

Resurrection: _Phoenix Ascending_, chapter 2: A New Beginning

A Collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker

"ATTACK MY MINIONS! Make this city fear me, Killer moth!" the moth man cried to the heavens, cracking his whip furiously and sending more of his creations after the city and its residents.

"RAVEN, GET THE WHIP!" Robin ordered, the dark teen girl focused her energy and shot black waves of it to the man, knocking him off his feet and taking the whip from his grasp.

Raven moved out of the way and began to whip back any of the moth creatures that tried to attack her, her face the same frustrated mask everyone has known. Although she was battling crazed super moths, her mind was elsewhere, on a blonde-haired earth shifter who was able to trigger her inner anger and demon. She gritted her teeth and lashed harshly at an oncoming moth.

Terra.

Although she hated to admit it, the dark girl had actually liked the earth shifter, even if her method of doing things got on her nerves. They had developed a steady friendship, one that was very hard to explain to the other Titans. Raven was open about her world and methods to Terra, and she was secretly relieved that someone other than Robin didn't cringe at Raven's home customs and dark magic.

That was probably why her betrayal had hurt her, deeper then she thought.

Hurting her friends, breaking the law, terrorizing the city, it was all unforgiveable. Even if she did reform and save them all towards the end, Raven still felt an inner anger for the former Titan. It was as if Terra had stabbed a large wound into Raven's heart and let it sit, get infected, swollen and never quite going away. The wound would fester every time her name was mentioned, every time she looked for ways to free her, and every time Beast Boy would hold or snuggle up with the crystal heart-shaped mirror he made for her. It pained her to see her green friend like that. He really cared for the blonde geomancer and it hurt him the worst of them all.

And maybe, just maybe, Raven cared a bit more for her green friend than she was ready to admit, even in the solitude of her own mind.

"Look out!" Cyborg cried, but Raven didn't snap out of it fast enough. She ended up being rammed by the hard head of a giant moth, which propelled her into a nearby car. The glass smashed and tinkled around her and she felt the metal dent from her speed and weight. She groaned with the pain and tried to clear her head; today's events were also on her mind.

She had felt it.

Raven KNEW the girl had broken free from her prison, because the moment the tiniest crack went through the stone, the feedback energy attacked her right in the temple. Soon after that, Robin had given her the order to bring extra clothes, _her_ clothes; there was no way in hell she was having _her_ wear them. So she secretly sneaked into the former Titan's old room and pulled out her remaining garments.

"Raven, I could use your assistance!" Starfire grunted as she was pushing back a wall of the annoying creatures. Raven blasted some of them off, pushing her mixed feelings aside and doing her best to help the team so she could go home and meditate. She was determined not to let her feelings get the best of her and unleash something that could hurt her friends or destroy Jump City.

Beast Boy had left Terra in the bathroom to clean up and relax. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be clean in the first place, although with a deep twinge of uncertainty she realized that after being essentially brain dead for the past two years she had probably forgotten quite a few things. She reached down to turn on the water and her hand froze on the knob as her mind tried to comprehend which way was left or right and how to turn it for that matter. After thinking about it thoroughly, she regained her common sense and turned it to the right, which was the hot water setting, and stripped out of the tattered rags that reminded her of the man she hated with a deeper passion than she'd ever believed possible before. Stepping inside, her skin immediately broke out into goose bumps as the hot water pelted her skin, a sensation that sent a shiver through her, but the blonde girl relaxed and let the dirt and grime wash off her body and go down the drain.

As she took her shower she was unaware of the rapid cleaning that was happening outside the bathroom. Beast Boy was running around the tower like a wild animal, or, to be more accurate, like the dozens of wild animals he was changing into in an effort to try and spruce up the place. Dusting away the nastiest dust bunnies, sweeping up any scraps of food off the floor, wiping down streaky windows and the final piece:

_His_ room.

His room was still a place where no living creature could live, or at least no NORMAL living creature. He cringed at the thought of her seeing it this way and he began to throw any dirty or smelly clothes into a trash bag and tossed it out into the dumpster, followed by a thorough vacuuming and scrubbing of his floor. Although there was one foreign substance even his dog form couldn't identify; he cleaned it up anyway. It was doubtful he'd ever need it.

"Gotta get this place looking nice! Terra's back, she deserves the best and she most definitely deserves a comfortable home to live in," he told himself over and over; after her big sacrifice, she all-out earned at least a decent home.

His sudden cleaning spree had left him wiped out by the time he was done, how long had it been? His green eyes flickered to the clock on the wall. An hour? Really? Beast Boy grinned as he realized Terra also took this long the first time she came here, although the mess that was waiting for them inside was pretty gruesome. Getting to his feet, he decided to do one more hall check. No loose scraps of paper, food, or dirt would be found when he was through.

Once the hallways were what Beast Boy considered decent, he decided that his sudden urge to clean should be rewarded with some soy milk and television. The teen stopped when he was about to pass by Terra's room, his gaze staring at the metallic door as if it held him in a trance. Activating the motion sensor, the door opened and he stepped inside, getting a view of the orange and purple paint along with the window that was open to the starry night sky.

'_Just as she had left it.'_ He thought to himself and took a deep breath. He did recall coming in here every day for at least a month and a half after she had left them, curling up with the mirror he gave her, and silently weeping or whimpering for the loss of the girl he cared for. His friends never bothered him at the time, not even snide remarks of being a love-sick moron or cruel ones such as letting her go and getting over it.

'_Where is it?'_

The last time he was in here was about six to seven months ago, and he had put the heart away somewhere so it wouldn't collect dust or lose its shine. Morphing into a dog he began to sniff it out, shimmying under her bed, he sniffed around, only to sneeze for inhaling dust, then went to her closet, which surprisingly still held her scent after so long, and then to her desk.

Ah, there it was.

He pulled back the bottom drawer and found the large trinket, seeing his evergreen reflection in it. He opened the box and smiled as he also had put her butterfly clip inside, another keepsake that was precious to him. It actually reminded him of Terra's personality, the little pricks on the end represented the tough and bad decisions she made, but they eventually disappeared into a whole, a whole that was simple yet beautiful in the shape of a small graceful creature.

"Beast Boy?" a timid female voice called in surprise. He jumped and almost lost his grip on her mirror.

"Yes?" he asked, relaxing quickly at the sight of the former Titan. She had her clothes on and a towel draped across her shoulders, although the clothes looked rather. . . small on her. Even after being encased in stone for two years she STILL grew?

"What are you doing in here?" she asked curiously and stepped inside, setting her toiletries on her desk, then sitting on her bed. Beast Boy stood up, mirror in hand and went to her, holding it out for her to take.

"I was just getting this. . ." he murmured softly, a hint of a blush staining his cheeks."Sorry to come in here unannounced. . ." he apologized with a lopsided grin.

Terra, on the other hand, was in shock, seeing the old gift again. The girl was sure they had probably broken it or thrown it out after what she'd done.

"You. . . saved this?" her voice barely a whisper and cracking on the last syllable. Her hands took the heart-shaped box and opened the lid. She saw her reflection in the mirror inside, her eyes still the same pale baby blue, her hair still a bright yellow, and her skin still tan from the long hours of trekking and working outside.

"Yeah. . . . I could never throw it away, Terra,. . . because. . "

'_Because it was all I had left to remind me of you. . .'_ he concluded in his mind and sat on the bed next to her, watching her reaction.

She stared at herself, minutes ticking by quickly. The silence was deafening before the girl finally cracked, tears flooding her eyes and spilling down her cheeks like a waterfall. It felt good to cry, after all the hurt and anger that was built up inside her and she wasn't going to pass up the chance to let it out, even if it was just bit by bit.

"Beast Boy. . . . I'm sorry. . . you're such a great friend . . . I don't deserve this." She hiccupped, putting her hand over her mouth and shutting her eyes tight. She truly believed she didn't deserve it, not after what she did, even if she did save them and Jump city; there was no way that alone could atone for her sins.

"Terra, of course you do!"

"No, I don't!" she cried, letting out more of the feelings that burdened her heart. "How do I deserve this? I hurt you guys, betrayed you, drove out and hurt dozens of civilians and helped a madman! How can ANY of that just be forgotten and forgiven?" She screamed, raising up the crystal heart, preparing to chuck it towards the wall.

"Terra!" the boy yelled and grabbed her upraised wrist firmly. She froze and realized what she was about to do, a light tremor racked her thin body.

"I'm sorry. . . I'm sorry. . . I'm sorry." She rambled on over and over. Beast Boy shushed her and held her in a tight hug, comforting the hurt and anguish that had resurfaced.

"I know you hurt us, Terra, and I know you betrayed us. . . .but that was because you were afraid of losing control, something you did so often that the fear of it became something you were obsessed with. You lost friends, you moved from home to home. You were insecure, and that fear of being alone led you to do things that weren't exactly. . . well, let's just say, good. But all of that's behind us, it was something that all of us let go. But in order for us to completely forget it, to put it all behind us-" here he put his index finger and thumb under her chin to raise her face and make her look at him,"you have to, too, Terra; you're home, you're safe, and you made a sacrifice few people could've made. I think that's redemption enough."

Terra's lips quivered and she sniffed, the tears dripping down to her chin and onto the green boy's fingers.

"I promise, right here, right now, that I will never betray or do anything to harm you ever again." She whispered and rested her face into his chest. As she did, the girl realized Beast Boy had filled out and gotten more muscle; he wasn't as lanky and skinny as he used to be anymore. And he was taller now. Used to be, she was the taller of the two by a slight amount. Not anymore. _He's grown up_, she thought to herself. She liked it.

"Good. I'll hold you to that," he teased and pulled a silver item from his pocket. She felt something graze above her left ear and she looked up, realizing Beast Boy put her silver butterfly pin in the place where it belonged. A smile broke out across her face and the sight of it made his heart burst with butterflies of his own.

"Come on, there's a pizza waiting for you on the kitchen table." He told her and helped her up, she nodded and followed him hand in hand to the dining room, blushing all the while as her stomach growled at the word pizza.

But as the two turned to go, they were unaware of a very watchful eye observing them, far enough to be undetected, but close enough to get the information that was needed.

"_My luck with apprentices has never been good . . . . has it, Terra?"_

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3: Regrets and Restoration

_Well, here's chapter three of "Resurrection:Phoenix Ascending." As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review, and thank you all so very much!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter3: Regrets and Restoration

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

"OW, OWOWOWOWOWOW!" Beast Boy screeched as he ran in circles holding his backside. Terra sat on the boulder laughing away at his display as a crab dangled from his pants. They had been sitting, watching the ocean like they used to, skipping rocks and just talking. Beast Boy was ecstatic to fill her in on their adventures he had been on and some of his heroic and/or funny moments as well and she happily sat and listened, pleasing him with laughing at the appropriate times and comforting him when the conversation got dark.

But then he got this wacky idea to pull out a rare blue and yellow starfish for her to see, and ended up becoming a victim of a crab.

Tears budded in her eyes from the continuous giggles until finally she stood up and held his shoulders.

"S-sit still." She said, calming her breathing and making him freeze in surprise. With expert fingers she scratched the crab between its eyes and it released its grip, falling into her hand.

"There you go, little guy, Beast Boy won't hurt you anymore." She told the delicate little shelled creature. It huddled closer to her in response and she smiled as Beast Boy stuck his lower lip out in a pout.

"Go on home." She encouraged it and let it back in the ocean with a smile.

"Hey, Terra."

"Ye-UWAAAHHH!" she screamed only to have laughter follow it as she felt herself being tickled on her waist. She flailed about wildly trying to get away from her attacker.

"Stohahahahaha-hop! Beast Boy!" she laughed and squealed, she fell to the floor both of them in a laughing heap. Grasping the earth below her, she was prepared to shift a small amount of it into his face but, as she tried to use her power, a massive headache hit her, making her feel like her head was splitting in half, and she gasped, her laughter ceasing and making the blonde grasp her head in pain.

"Terra, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Beast Boy asked in panic, she shook her head, the pain subsiding as she powered down and sat up.

"No, it's just. . . I can't use my power without getting this horrible migraine," she explained, rubbing where it had hurt a few seconds ago.

"Oh. . ." he answered, the breeze blew, adding to the awkward silence that followed afterwards. Terra blushed when she realized how close they were and she squirmed a bit to get out of his line of sight. Her heart thudded quickly in her chest and she felt butterflies inside her stomach.

'_Woah. . .when did this start happening. . . ?'_ she asked herself, feeling the sudden self-consciousness in regards to her green friend and the need to brush her hair and check her face.

"So, uhm. . . what now?" Beast Boy asked curiously, sitting on the rock beside her and purposely looking away from her, trying to look natural.

"I'm not sure." She said, thinking of anything they could do. They had talked and had fun, ate and now they were watching the sunset together but the awkward silence. . well, it pretty much killed the mood; the happy-go-lucky aura they had about five minutes ago was gone. Or was it? _Something_ had changed…

Her blue eyes flickered to the wild colors in the sunset, the bright pinks, the flaming oranges the deep reds and the daisy yellows that blended and reflected off the ocean blue surfaces in nature's beautiful show.

Subconsciously she scooted closer to her green friend as a chilly breeze brushed them; causing goose bumps to rise on her skin. She didn't even realize they were that close until their shoulders touched and both jolted in their spots as if they were electrocuted. Both stared at each other wide eyed; blushes crawled onto their cheeks.

But Terra broke it first. She began to giggle, which caused Beast Boy to smile then laugh as well. With a hefty sigh, she leaned against him full force and rested her head in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around him. She could feel his rapid heartbeat and her own mix together in a strange yet soothing rhythm, his arms awkwardly placed around her shoulders in a warm embrace. With a sigh of contentment, she wrapped her arms around his waist and continued to watch the sunset. The light humming of the ocean waves was like a sweet lullaby and their heartbeats and breathing had a soothing effect she hadn't had in so long.

Not too long afterwards she fell asleep.

Raven felt worn out, her head was pounding with a massive migraine and her limbs ached from being thrown in what seemed like every nook and cranny of the city.

Killer Moth finally went down, thanks to a very tiring use of one of her and Starfire's combo attacks. Robin was exhausted, and Cyborg was chipped and damaged in a few areas.

She hated to think it, REALLY hated to say it, but she wished Beast Boy had been there, to help them in that fight, but he was too busy caring for Terra as of now.

This seemed to intensify her headache as she thought of her and she tried to keep her emotions in check. She looked up and realized they had made it to the front of the tower and Cyborg punched in the code for entry.

All Raven wanted to do was shower and go to sleep, to end this day that was exhausting and full of never-ending surprises.

"Man, I'm starving." Cyborg mused, his stomach growled obnoxiously and Robin chuckled, agreeing with him. Starfire smiled beside them.

"I, too, am hungry, but what of our friend Terra?"

"I'm sure Beast Boy's-. . . hello." Robin said, his voice going surprisingly devious and Starfire giggled while Cyborg whistled.

Raven dared to turn her head in the direction they were directing their attention and then wasn't surprised to find Terra with Beast Boy. She was asleep on his lap, her hands on his chest, clinging softly as she slept as if to keep him there and her hair was hanging loosely around her porcelain face; said face was nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Beast Boy looked so out of place with his stiff positioning, blushing face and wide eyes while his hands kept on her shoulders.

"Any stupid comments and I swear I will bite you so hard," Beast Boy replied, turning his head to them and showing his anger and embarrassment through his green eyes.

"Yeah, but it's so tempting." Cyborg grinned and lumbered off towards the kitchen for his food. Starfire merely squealed with glee at the scene and a blush formed on her cheeks; Raven could tell what she was seeing rather than her green friend and Terra. Robin gave him a "thumbs up" and a grin, then went off to the kitchen with Cyborg.

"I don't want to wake her, but I need to get her to a bed, my legs are falling asleep." He whispered aloud and gave Raven a pleading look. But Raven's headache intensified almost to the point where she groaned. The dark Titan just turned her head and rapidly strode to the double doors and walked through, doing what she had planned earlier.

Beast Boy looked at the pretty blonde girl in his arms one more time before he decided to risk it and take her to her room to sleep. First taking her fully in his arms he got her firmly, then picking her up using his leg muscles. He'd been sitting there so long, his legs had gone to sleep, which made matters a bit harder. She was actually pretty easy to carry, he realized; she couldn't weigh a full hundred pounds, and probably less. Still, with his legs still half-asleep it would be a bit difficult.

"Uhm, I'm gonna take her to bed, then I'm hitting the sack myself," he told the two Titans stuffing their faces in the kitchen, Robin waved since his mouth was full and Cyborg just made kissing faces to the pair, which got him a childish flicking of Beast Boy's tongue at him.

Walking into her room he set her down on her bed and covered her with the comforter. She didn't even twitch at his movement and he smiled at that idea.

'_She looks so cute.' _

He sat down next to her, brushing stray locks out of her face and caressing her skin with his fingertips. He felt his heart speed up again, like it always did when she was last with them and he felt the urge to just kiss her.

Lying down next to her he just watched her face, listened to her breathing and reminisced on the good times.

He wondered what new adventures they would have now that she was back, and, yes, how he would win her heart. The teen deeply loved her, and he wanted nothing more than to know she felt the same.

As his thoughts wandered he didn't notice how heavy his eyelids felt, and how his breathing became slow until finally he was seeing his favorite foods floating on clouds in his dreams.

Waking up with a start, Terra's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when she saw a familiar green tint nuzzled into her, his face just a few inches from hers, and his breath warming her already hot face.

'_Oh my gosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh!' _she panicked in her mind and frantically pulled away, more like tried only to realize that he had a grip on her like a vise. She held still and stopped her breathing, just sticking to her strange position and feeling a radiating heat from his hands on her hips.

"_I think my heart's gonna drop outta my butt_. . " she mumbled as it felt like her heart did somersaults and loop-dee-loops inside her chest. With a quick huff, she snaked herself back to her previous position and locked her eyes on the green boy.

And it was then that she realized the boy had grown a bit, his round face was now a bit longer, the baby fat gone and showing his cheek bones, his hair was still spiky and wild but just a little bit longer; he'd somehow fixed or outgrown the under bite a little, it wasn't as prominent. His lanky form was also no more; he had more muscle now, making his shoulders look broad and his torso show through the slightly tight fabric. Slightly? Hmmm, yes, it was _deliciously_ tight…

In short, he was handsome; cute, yes, but he had grown into a handsome young man indeed, and she looked like a little girl next to him. She may be chronologically 18 now, but her body was still the same as it was two years ago and she was worried her growth would be affected by that. Would she ever fill out? Would she ever get the curves and the height?

"Mmmm, Terra. . . "the teen mumbled in his sleep, hugging her tighter to himself. The blonde girl blushed even deeper and realized after all this confusion:

She liked him.

She had always liked him, liked the extra attention he gave her, his small yet meaningful gestures and his constant encouragement when she was upset, but she was just now realizing that she _liked him_ liked him.

Terra placed a hand on his cheek, her index fingers brushing under his eye and her nose brushing his softly.

She held her breath, she closed her eyes, and made her lips contact with his, just like she had wanted them to, on their first date, so long ago.

At first, he was unresponsive, he was ASLEEP, but after a few moments, his lips pursed up to meet hers, and the sensation made her insides skitter and her face heat up to fever temperature. She pulled away gasping; his grip had loosened a bit so she took that initiative to jump off her bed, run for the bathroom and lock the door.

Little did she know that while she was freaking out on the cool tile floor, a certain green Teen Titan had immediately sat up in bed and felt his lips, blushing all the while and staring at the wall in open mouthed shock. He'd just had the most awesome dream. Or…..was it a dream?

In the bathroom, Terra gripped the sink, fighting for self-control. Yes, she liked Beast Boy. Okay, she told herself, that's established. Nothing abnormal there; he'd been there for her so often before, and he was there for her now. Abnormal would be _not_ liking him.

But….what was this strange feeling welling up inside her, seeming to come from every part of her being? The feeling of…of…._wholeness_ when he was around, like she'd lost something vitally important and just now found it again. What _was_ it?

And how could she make it last forever?

That last thought almost knocked her down. Last forever? Nothing lasted forever in her life. It was a miracle if something made it past five weeks.

Surely, the thing to do was to tell him that she appreciated him, liked him…but to go no further with that. It would only hurt him, and she wouldn't do that for the world. So, yeah, keep things on a friendship level, but, but nothing else. Besides. It wouldn't do to pass on her genes to the next generation anyhow.

Briefly, the image flashed through her mind, unbidden, of her and Beast Boy making love in his bed. She blushed crimson at the thought….

"_And just who are you REALLY protecting, Terra?"_ Terra looked up in amazement. In the mirror over the sink, her reflection gazed at her accusingly, hands on hips. _"Are you REALLY trying to protect Beast Boy, or are you just avoiding a situation you don't know how to deal with? In other words, running away. Again."_

"I am not!" she responded, heatedly. "He deserves better! Look at me! My whole life is a train wreck, f'goshakes!"

"_So. Gonna __remain __ a train wreck, are we?" _ That brought her up short. Could she….was it possible to actually change?

Beast Boy was still sitting on Terra's bed when she emerged from the bathroom. He looked up in surprise. She looked like she'd been crying. "Terra? Are you alright?"

She sniffled, wiping her nose and brushing her hair back. "Yeah, I'm okay. Yes, I've been crying. I..I hope you understand..I've got a lot of crying to do. Don't let it throw you, Gar. It's, like, a girl thing. I've done a lot of horrible things, and they're catching up with me."

He went up to her and took her in his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder. "Terra. You don't need to cry. You're home, you're safe, and everything's okay."

"But that's just it. Everything's _not_ okay. I've got this enormous load of guilt to work through. I _have_ to do that; otherwise, I'll be stuck in the past. And my past is not a pleasant place." She looked up at him. "And now I have something to do. Something I have to do alone. So, will you bear with me?"

"You know I'd do anything for you."

"Then wait for me. I have to go see Raven."


	4. Chapter 4: A Time for Healing, Part 1

_And here begins chapter 4 of "Phoenix Ascending." As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review! And thanks!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending

Chapter 4: A Time for Healing, Part 1

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Raven had just made herself some herbal tea when her door chime sounded; someone was outside. Without even using her powers, she knew who it was. "Go away," she growled softly. Wasn't it enough that the stupid girl had been welcomed back with open arms by everybody else?

"Raven. I have to talk to you." Terra's voice sounded through the door. "And, and maybe you have some things you need to say to me?" That last caught Raven's attention, and she went to the door, opening it a crack.

Terra stood outside, alone, and looking downcast. Raven narrowed her eyes. Was this genuine or an act? "Yes, Terra?"

"May-may I come in?"

Raven considered. She wasn't usually fond of visitors, even of people she liked, but Terra seemed determined….."Alright. But only for a few minutes." She opened the door the rest of the way, and Terra stepped inside.

After gazing in awe-and a bit of fear-at the, er, _different_ decorations-if that's what they were-Terra turned to face Raven. "Look. I know….sorta….how things are between us. I betrayed the Titans, I fought the Titans….I fought _you._ And I said some things that, well, I really really regret." She looked down at her feet. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know that doesn't make up for what I did, but it's all I've got…I'm sorry."

Raven looked at the blonde geomancer. Was she sincere? True, she was the empath here, but she'd been fooled before. Terra _seemed_ contrite and remorseful, but was she? "Let's get one thing straight. You're here, you're alive, because Beast Boy wouldn't have it any other way. It might've been my spell that freed you….but it was his determination, his will, his, yes, his _love_ that actually fueled the spell."

She turned away, pouring her tea. "When we fought…some things you said brought out a side in me I've spent my whole life suppressing. You have no idea of the kind of danger you put everyone in. Not just the Titans, but the entire world, maybe the entire universe. I don't know if I can ever truly forgive you for that."

"I expected no less. You see, I don't know if I can ever truly forgive myself."

Raven turned and looked the girl in the eye. "I'll say one thing with absolute certainty: you hurt Garfield, in any way, for any reason, and you'll wish you were back inside that rock. That I can promise you."

Terra gazed at Raven, tilting her head first one way, then the other. "You love him, don't you?"

Raven started as if stuck with a pin. "What? No. That's ridiculous. He's my teammate. Maybe there's some friendship there, some camaraderie, but…"

"But he's your _best_ friend, isn't he?"

Raven pulled her hood up over her head, hiding her face. "Friends…can be a liability in this business. Especially to me."

Terra moved a little closer. "Raven…don't deny it. I've heard him talk about you. He considers himself your best friend. I think he even loves you….maybe not _love_ love, but he does love you. And I've seen how you two behave around each other. Don't deny those feelings; it'll only hurt worse, in the long run."

"And are you now an expert on love?"

Terra brushed her hair out of her face, smiling suddenly. "I don't think there are any experts. Only students." She paused, eyes down. "Well. It's been a few minutes. Maybe I'd best go."

"By all means. I do need to meditate." After Terra left, Raven sat for a very long time, considering her words.

Terra's next stop was Robin's room. She actually didn't expect to find him there, and, if so, certainly not alone, but it was worth a try. But, to her surprise, he answered his door on the second ring. "Terra? What brings you here?"

"Robin? May I come in?"

"Uh, sure. Where's Beast Boy?" he asked, looking up and down the corridor.

"In his room. I'm alone. Uh, I, I need to talk to you. In private."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Uhm, alright."

Robin's room was the exact opposite of the way Beast Boy's _used_ to be. Everything was in order, the bed made, the floor swept and vacuumed, curtains cleaned and tight. Everything was spotless. To one wall, his computer-a design Terra didn't recognize-sat, its software neatly arranged and shelved. "Uhm, won't you have a seat?"

She sat. "I won't be long. I just wanted to apologize. For, for my actions."

Robin had been halfway expecting this. "Terra, there's no need…."he began.

"But there is. If, for no other reason, for my own benefit. I, I know….well, I know I screwed up, big time. And there's no excuse for what I did. And I'm sorry. You'll never know how sorry." She paused. "Looking back, I don't know why I went with Slade. It makes no sense to me, now."

"Slade can be persuasive. I can guess some of what transpired: He told you we'd never accept you once we found out what you'd done, the accidents, earthquakes, and all. That we'd probably end up sending you to some sort of facility or institution or something. I'm sure he didn't leave out the control collar thing. From past experience, he no doubt told you he was the only person on Earth who truly understood you, etc. And he promised to teach you to control your powers, right? Which he did. To some degree."

She brushed her hair out of her eyes, momentarily confused. "You mean, Slade _was_ persuasive, don't you?"

Robin sighed as he sat down opposite her. Now was as good a time as any. "No, Terra. Present tense. Yes, you threw him into the lava. Yes, he died. But that wasn't the end of his story." He paused, as her eyes grew big with fear. "I'll show you his file. He apparently made a deal with the devil-well, _a_ devil-and came back. We won, but it wasn't easy." He drew a deep breath. "He's still out there."

"Robin, I-"

"Look, Terra, you don't have to worry. If he does try anything, we'll be ready for him. And we'll stop him. We've done it before." He smiled a feral smile. "We've a pretty good track record so far."

"You—you don't understand. He'll stop at nothing to get me back. I know. I _know_ this."

Robin tilted his head slightly, his mask concealing most of his expression. "Terra-this is just between you and me, understand, but-I have to ask." She waited, tense, head hung. "Did you have sex with Slade?"

Terra's head hung further, her body language telling the Boy Wonder all he needed to know. "Please don't tell Beast Boy. I-I couldn't stand it," she whispered, her blonde hair hanging to either side of her head like a curtain, concealing her face. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Robin standing over her, that confident smile that he _had_ to have trademarked on his face. "Terra, you don't have to worry about that. This stays between us. I needed to know, because the more information I have about Slade, the better our chances of beating him. But at some point, don't you think you need to tell Beast Boy about this? Especially if…I mean, if you two…" He paused, letting her finish the thought in her head.

She sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Maybe. Well, yeah, definitely. No 'Maybe' about it. But not right now. Not for a while yet. I-I have to work up to it."

"Don't wait too long. Remember: as long as Beast Boy doesn't know, it's something Slade can use against you. And him. Against _us_."

Her eyes widened further. "_Shit_. I hadn't thought about it like that. Yeah, that's exactly the sort of thing he'd do, too…wait 'til the heat of battle, then spring that little surprise package on him. I-I don't know how it'd affect Gar."

Robin was grim. "I can guess. He'd probably revert to his werewolf form, losing most of his higher brain functions. Which would suit Slade just fine."

She sucked in her breath through her teeth. "Ohmygod. Slade would kill him." She paused, thinking. "So I _have_ to tell him. And soon. None of us knows when Slade will strike next."

Robin sat back in his chair. "I've got some feelers out. I don't think he'll strike anytime really soon. Like this week or so. He usually waits for the perfect opportunity, then strikes through others first. Usually in more than one location, with the idea that we'll spread our forces out, so he can take us on one at a time. So far, Plasmus, Overload, Cinderblock, and all the others he usually uses as cat's-paws are in secure lockdown. That doesn't mean he doesn't have others, but those are denied him. For the present."

Terra stood up. "I guess I'd best be going…" she began, looking towards the door.

Robin stood up with her. "Terra…how _are_ things between you and Garfield?"

Terra blushed. "We're—we're sorta getting used to being around each other all over again. I mean, it's been two years…."

Again Robin put his hand on her shoulder; a supportive move. "Terra…don't be afraid of your feelings. Beast Boy loves you. I think you love him. Don't waste an opportunity to tell him; you might not get another.

"And something else: I know how your powers are affecting you, that you can't use them without excruciating pain. Don't worry about that. You're more than just a teammate to us; you're _family_. It doesn't matter about your powers. Maybe they'll come back, maybe not. But it changes nothing either way. You're still welcome here. I just want you to know that."

Again, Terra felt tears running down her face. It had been so long since she had a place she could really call home, and people who really cared about her. So very very long. "Thank you," she murmured. "I just wish Raven felt the same."

"Raven's got things she has to work through. She'll come around, but given her heritage, her darker emotions have a stronger hold over her. Give her time. Okay?"

Again, Terra brushed a lock of hair out of her face, and smiled through her tears. "Okay. I will."


	5. Chapter 5: A time for healing, part 2

_Here's chapter 5 of "Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending." I've had some fun writing this, and hope you enjoy where the muse has taken me. What follows is my original interpretation of where OobluebubblesoO's idea would have led, had she been able to write it herself. Oh, not completely; I'm sure there would've had some differences between hers and mine. Such is the nature of fan fiction. But what follows is original material, based on her story. From here on out, I'm on my own. Kinda scary, actually….anybody wanna hold my hand?_

_As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review. And thank you all, but most of all, I thank you, OobluebubblesoO, for inspiring me to write this. I hope I've done you proud._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 5: A Time for Healing, part 2

Next stop: Starfire's room.

Terra hadn't actually intended to come here, originally, but what Robin had said struck a nerve. She needed to talk to another girl about that, and she didn't think Raven would appreciate another visit. That only left one other. "Friend Terra! What a pleasant surprise! Where is friend Beast Boy?"

"Uhm, he's not here right now, Starfire. I sorta need to talk to you alone. Is-is that okay?"

"Of course it is okay! It is more than okay! Come in, come in!"

Like Robin's, Starfire's room was neat and orderly, but there was an…_oddness_ about it. Nothing Terra could put her finger on, just a difference. Some of the sculptures-Terra was no expert on art, but some of the sculptures seemed to've been made by someone with _way_ more than ten fingers. One thing she could note: judging from the placement of the pillows, Starfire must sleep with her head to the _foot_ of her bed, and her feet to the head. "Please. Sit. Make yourself comfortable."

She sat, checking first to make sure she wasn't sitting on Silkie, then turned her attention on the alien princess. Starfire herself…the only word she could think of to describe the alien girl was "perfect:" perfect hair, perfect features, perfect complexion, perfect figure. Even the way she moved and walked was perfect: she had an effortless, catlike grace about her. Looking at her, Terra was suddenly acutely conscious of every blemish, every imperfection she had ever had, real or imagined. It would be easy to be jealous of such flawlessness, and yet, strangely, Terra felt absolutely none of that. Starfire was Starfire. If she were any less perfect, she wouldn't be Starfire. She and Robin made a, well, there was no other word for that, either, a "perfect" couple. "Starfire, I've just come from a rather in-depth discussion with Robin. I—some things came up that I need to discuss with, with, well, with you. Another female, I mean. Oh, _hell._" She paused and leaned forward, rubbing her forehead, as if to clear it. Starfire waited patiently, sitting with her legs crossed on the divan. "When I was working for Slade…some things happened. Things…I don't know how to, well, t-talk to Garfield about, but things I have to talk to him about, anyway, and I don't know how to go about doing it."

"I understand. You did the making of the love with Slade."

Terra jolted violently, turning crimson from head to toe. "What-how did you-I mean…"

Starfire came over and knelt by her. "Terra…I, too, am familiar with this Slade person. I know he sought to control you, to use you as his ultimate weapon. It is not surprising to me that he used you in other ways, too." She put her hand on Terra's, who'd begun to cry again. "I—I _really_ gotta stop _doin'_ this," Terra sniffled, "I mean, I'm gonna, like, dehydrate myself or somethin'."

Starfire pulled her close, not in one of her usual bone-crushing hugs, but a butterfly-gentle embrace. Her voice was soft. "No, you do not. You must release these emotions, or else they will destroy you from within. Now. Come, little sister. Tell me how it happened." And the Tamaranean girl comforted Terra while she told her the whole story.

In his room, Beast Boy waited, growing more fidgety by the minute. Terra had told him she was going to see Raven; he could guess why. But it had already been over an hour….

He found himself at Raven's door. "Uh, Ray? 'S me. Is Terra here?"

Raven had opened the door a crack at his signal. "No, she left some time ago. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just, y'know, wondering, is all." He turned to go, scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully.

"Garfield?" It was Raven. "Why don't you come in for a minute?"

Beast Boy goggled. "Are-are you actually _inviting me into your room_?" He pinched himself. "Nope, I'm awake."

"Beast Boy. Garfield." Raven opened her door wider. "I sense something is troubling you." She paused. Due to her nature, Raven had a difficult time opening up to others. That included initiating conversations. Even needed ones. "So….wanna come in?" Once he was inside, she turned to her teakettle. It wasn't electric; sometimes electronics malfunctioned around her. Besides. Some things are best done the old fashioned way. "Would you…would you like some tea?"

He blinked at her. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think I would." She got him a cup. After blowing on it to cool it, he took a sip. "Hey, not bad. Always wondered what it was with you and tea. Now I know."

"I find it relaxing. So. How are things?" By way of opening the conversation.

"Oh, fine." He sighed, looking down at his teacup. "Or.. not ..."

"What's bothering you?" She sat on the sofa by him, crossing her legs.

"That's just it, I'm not altogether sure." Pause. "How did your chat with Terra work out?"

"Quite well, actually. She came by to apologize for her actions." Raven paused, looking down at her cup. "When we last fought….Slade evidently had a pretty thorough file on me, on my weaknesses. My psychological weaknesses. Terra exploited those, bringing out that side of me I've long suppressed. It was more than just a fight, more on the order of psychological warfare, so to speak. She apologized for doing that to me." She shrugged, underneath her blue cape. "We…sort of cleared the air, so to speak. I'm glad she came by." This last admission surprised even her.

"So…how are things between you two?"

Another shrug. "Fine. For now. Of course, I'm not up to fully trusting her, you understand. But we're okay, for the moment." It bothered her, what Terra had said about her feelings for Beast Boy. She'd have to explore that. "I think a better question would be, how are things between you two?" She took a sip of tea and leaned back, relaxing.

Now it was Beast Boy's turn to shrug. "Okay, I guess. I—I…" He paused, wincing. "I'm not really very good at this sort of thing, am I?"

"Terrible. Almost as bad as I am." Was that a half smile on her face?

He laughed. "Got me there." Another pause. Then he got up and began to pace. "Raven, I—I really don't have anyone else to talk to about these…these feelings, y'know? I mean, Robin's basically Batman 2.0, Cyborg'll just make fun, and Starfire….well, I, I just don't know."

"You have feelings for her. That's obvious. And it's pretty obvious they go beyond the 'friendship' level." She looked at him soberly. "Beast Boy…Garfield, do you think you're in love with her? Like, _really_ in love?"

Beast Boy hung his head. "Yeah, I think I just might be. And it's killing me, Raven! I, I want to be with her, like, all the time, and, and do things with her, go places, you know."

Raven propped her elbow on the couch, resting her head against her hand, drawing her legs up under her. "So….why is this killing you? I mean, you've got what you always wanted. She's back, she's a part of the team again, she's here, with you….I mean, dream come true. Right?" No answer. "Right, Gar?"

Finally he nodded. "It's just….Raven, I don't know how to proceed from here. Yeah, it is a dream come true. But now I don't know what to do next! I mean, I'm afraid if I just tell her how I feel, it'll scare her off or something. But at the same time, I can't just do nothing! The tension….." Abruptly, he sat back down by her and clutched his head in his hands.

She paused a moment, then, setting her cup aside, slid over to him on the sofa and did the one thing she couldn't have done, not long ago: she reached around his shoulders in a tentative, friendly hug. "Beast Boy…. I know I'm not exactly an authority on the subject myself, but, but, if I understand correctly, what you're feeling is perfectly normal. You love her. You want to be with her. That's understandable. About the uncertainty, the tension, part, well, that's just part of the process, as it were. You're on a voyage of discovery called life, and suddenly, you're not alone. You've got someone in your life. Someone who really _really_ matters to you. Being afraid you'll lose that is part of it. How could you be human, and in this circumstance, and _not_ be afraid of that?

"But I think it'll get better. Right now, you're both in a kind of shock, sort of. You didn't really expect to find her, alive and free like this, and she didn't expect to be back here. From what I gather, she's spent most of her life running from her mistakes. Now, I hope, anyway, she's decided to take a stand, to start growing up. That involves making more mistakes. Just remember: her first instinct is, has always been, to run. You…may catch some of that, yourself. As in, 'she may run from you.' Or from situations involving you. So be prepared to deal with it." She paused again, biting her lip. "I don't want to see you hurt again."

"Thanks, Ray. I had already scoped some of that, but it's good to know I'm not crazy. Well," he amended, his goofy smile showing briefly, "no crazier than usual." He sobered. "It's just makin' it happen that's hard." Pause. He turned his head and looked at her. "Ray? I, I really hate what Malchior did to you."

Raven ran her hand over his back in a consoling gesture, then drew back. "Yeah." Even after all this time, it still hurt. She'd _trusted_ Malchior, and he'd-*

"That rat bastard _hurt_ you. I swear, if I could I'd-" She saw the look in his eyes, the wildness, a sheer primal ferocity to match anything in any of the hells she'd heard of. Raven wasn't a true telepath, exactly, but she could almost see the words form in his head: _Nobody hurts my Raven. Nobody._

Again she dared a friend-hug. "Gar, don't. Don't let something like that tear you up. Malchior's gone, and if what I gather is true, he's in a kind of hell of his own. Fitting, really. But don't let it fester in you."

"I won't. But just give me half a chance, and I swear I'd rip his dick off. Oh, uh, sorry."

Raven laughed, the imprecation catching her by surprise. Beast Boy didn't _ever_ talk like that; Malchior's mistreatment of her must've hurt him almost as bad as it did her….

_We make quite a pair,_ she thought,_ since I also read the riot act to Terra about pretty much the same thing, just a few minutes ago. We must be one. Holy Azar,_ her eyes widened,_ it's true. We must be One. _ Hurriedly, she glanced at him; he hadn't noticed. Good. "Well, I appreciate the sentiment. But we are straying off topic somewhat."

"Yeah. I guess….I guess I just don't want anything to go wrong, y'know? I don't wanna screw it all up."

Raven sighed. "Well, Garfield, you know what? Such things are going to happen, good and bad. The fecal matter will hit the fan, sooner or later. Nobody can help that. All we can do…is try our best. And when, not if, things go south, pick ourselves up, and keep trying." She smiled; a rare expression on her solemn, pretty face. "I think you're better at that than I am." At some point, they'd both stood up, and moved toward her door; an unspoken agreement hanging in the air between them. And now she leaned forward, placing her hand on his shoulder, discovering, as Terra had some hours earlier, that he was now the taller of the two. "And. Just for the record…" She paused, savoring his closeness for a moment. "_You're_ not alone, either." She brushed her lips over his cheek, then pulled back, blushing. "Just wanted you to know: whatever happens, I'm here for you," she whispered. Then shoved him out the door before he could register shock.

Out in the corridor, Beast Boy stood, trying to make sense out of it all. Had Raven really invited him into her room, spent who-knew-how-long in a heart-to-heart, then, on the way out, actually _kissed_ him? _Raven?_

He decided he'd best not think too long or hard on any of it, just yet. Too many shocks in one day and his head would explode.

But he still didn't know where Terra was. Maybe Cyborg knew…..

Down in the Tower's garage, Cyborg was getting gloriously messy working on the T-car. "Cy? Got a minute?"

"Hey, sure, BB." He slid out from under the vehicle. "What's on your mind? And where's your little girlfriend?" This last mentioned slyly, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Knock it off, Cy. I'm looking for her, myself. Wondered if she might've come this way."

"Nope. Ain't seen her all day." He shook his head in mock dismay. "Only back a few hours, and you're already checkin' up on her…." He saw Beast Boy's expression. "Okay, bad time for jokes. I getcha." He sat up, wiping the oil and grease off his hands. "But I really haven't seen her. I thought she was with you. Seriously."

"No. She said she had something she needed to do, that she needed to see Raven, but that's the last I saw of her."

Cyborg bit back a jocular _did you check the morgue_ comment. Now wasn't the time. "You check with Raven?"

"Yeah. But she'd left there, some time before. Cy?" Something in his tone made Cyborg pay special attention. "How…how do you let a girl know you, like, really care about her?"

"Oh, god. We're to THAT point already?"

Beast Boy sat down beside him. "Yeah, we're to that point already. So. How do you do it?"

Cyborg considered. Now would be an exceptionally bad time to rib Beast Boy about his "girlfriend." Time enough for that later. "Well, let me see. 'Course, there are always the old standby's we guys use to keep from actually having to say the words: candy, flowers, jewelry, stuff like that…"

"Yeah. Thing is, Terra's not really into all that girly stuff. I mean, she likes it an' all, but it's not really her style, you know?"

"So what _does_ she like?"

Beast Boy thought. "Food. Starfire's cooking. Movies. Music. Shopping. Going places like that, you know, doing stuff."

"Then maybe what you should do is focus on just bein' with her, man. Spend time with her. I know you have been, ever since she came back, but spend more time with her. Go to those places. Do those things."

"Okay." He still seemed pensive. "Cy?"

"Yeah, BB?"

"What about…you know."

"Aw, man, you are NOT gonna make me have 'the Talk' with you, are you? The birds and the bees talk?"

"No, no," he backpedalled, blushing furiously. Cyborg noticed, with amusement, that when Beast Boy blushed, the usual parts of his face still turned red; it was just the surrounding green skin made him look like an under-ripe tomato. "I mean, I know about that stuff. The, the mechanics an' all, I mean. What I don't know about is….like…." he floundered, searching for the right words.

"Timing?"

"Yeah, that's it! I mean, I don't wanna come off as a total dweeb or nothin'…"

"Well, that's one area in which you are on your own, m'man. Every guy has his own style. But I'll say one thing about that 'n' then I'll shuttup." He waited.

"Sure, Cy, anything's better than what I got! Which is nuthin'."

"Don't be so sure. No, what I'm gonna say is this: always, _always_ respect her. Love her, spend time with her, treat her right, and respect her. Everything else'll just follow from that." _At least I hope so,_ he thought privately. _'Cause that's all I got._

Beast Boy nodded slowly. He looked more sober, more mature, than Cyborg could remember ever seeing him. And, looking at him, a scene flashed through Cyborg's mind: Beast Boy, attired in a tuxedo, looking very uncomfortable, and holding out his arm to Terra, who, resplendent in the whitest bridal gown Cyborg had ever seen, locked her arm in his as the pair proceeded up the middle aisle of a chapel while the famous music played on and on.

His one organic eye stung sharply; he reached up and wiped it, offhandedly. "Cy? Is something wrong?"

"Naw, man. Nothin's wrong. Now, g'wan. Get outta here. Go find her, and start the process."

"Huh? What process?"

"The process of Not Letting Go. It starts here. Now scram. I got some serious work to do."

"Do you wish me to go with you, when you do the telling to Beast Boy?"

Terra had finally stopped crying. It hadn't been easy or quick; she'd gone through about three boxes of Kleenex and most of a roll of toilet paper (a _mega_ roll), but now felt like she had things under control once more. She didn't fool herself; no doubt the slightest little thing could and probably would set her off again, but for now, she was in a dry spell. Literally. "No, Star, no. I could probably use your support there, when he hears about it, but no. This is really between Beast Boy and me. The sooner we get it out of the way, the better." She sighed. "I sure am gonna miss this place."

Starfire was puzzled. "But why would you miss it, Friend Terra? You are home! Nothing is more glorious than a homecoming!"

_Because I'm sure Beast Boy will hate me when he hears I slept with the man who tried to kill them all. He won't want me around, anywhere. And there I'll be again, alone. _ "Oh, no reason, Star. Just one of those unexplainable things some people have." She squared her shoulders. "I-I guess I'd best go see Beast Boy." _Yes, go on and get it over with._

Beast Boy had returned to his room, unsure of where to go next. A small tapping at the door caught his attention instantly: _she_ always knocked just like that.

He flew-literally-to the door and flung it open. "Terra! Are you okay? 'Cause I looked all over-*" She'd put her fingers to her lips, a shushing gesture. "May I come in, Gar?"

"Since when do you have to ask? Sure you can!" He practically dragged the miserable girl, clutching her last box of tissue like a life-preserver, into his now-clean room and sat her down in one of the bean bag chairs he had. "I got worried, so I went by Raven's, she said you'd left, I didn't know where else to look, I gotta little worried, so-*"

"Garfield…Beast Boy. Please. Slow down. Just sit down with me for a moment, would you?" Puzzled, and not a little concerned, he sat down in a chair beside her. He kept trying to see her face, to see those robin's-egg-blue eyes that had so mesmerized him (and still did), but she kept her head down and wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Now, c'mon. Surely your visit with Raven can't have been all that bad. I mean, you got out in one piece. That's more than some people can say," he quipped, but the joke fell flat. Terra was too despondent to even catch it.

She drew a deep breath. So. This was it. Here she was, about to close out another chapter in her wonderful, oh so glorious life. Here's where she Mortally Wounds her One True Love. Again. "Beast Boy…when I left Raven's, I went to Robin's room, for pretty much the same reason. To apologize. I mean, you couldn't make a bigger mistake than I did….well, maybe you could, but it would haveta involve the M'Krann crystal and a black power ring, but, but that's besides the point. But I just want you to know that, the reason, one reason I took so long coming back is, I, uhm, well, I had to pack." She stopped, and fumbled with a tissue in anticipation.

"Pack? Terra, what are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is, when you hear what I have to say, you—you won't want me around anymore," she sniffled.

"Terra, we've had this discussion before. There's nothing you've done that hasn't already been forgiven a hundred times over."

She stood up and moved away a few paces. "But there's one thing you didn't know about." He waited. _Might as well drop the hammer,_ she thought. "While I worked with Slade, I was his…his partner."

"Well, yeah, we knew that-*

She raised her hand: _not done yet_. "I was more than just his employee." He waited. "I was more than his apprentice." She was whispering so softly he had to strain his ears to hear her. "I was his….I was his. We, we, erm, we…..we had sex, Beast Boy." There. She turned away, so she wouldn't be able to see the searing hatred that would erupt in his eyes, all the love he felt for her transformed, in an instant, Jekyll and Hyde-like, into hatred of her and everything about her. _This is where it ends,_ she thought, _I'm tired of running. I've nowhere left to run to, anyway. Maybe I can find someplace nice and quiet, somewhere by a mountain stream or something, where there are no people, and maybe I'll either find or make something nice and sharp. It'll only hurt for a moment._ Dimly, she sensed, rather than heard, him rise and start to come in her direction. _Maybe he'll beat me. I certainly deserve it. Come to think of it, it might even make me feel a little better. _The thought actually cheered her slightly.

She turned towards him, but kept her eyes focused on the floor; she wanted her last memory of him to be the expression of love on his face, not the murderous rage that must surely be there now. "I deserve every bit of what you're about to do to me, whatever it is…"

He took her upper arms in his hands, and drew her somewhat closer. Now, he placed a curled-up index finger under her chin. "Terra. Look at me." Unwillingly, she found her eyes traveling up to meet his….

…and found them to be as full of love and tenderness as before. "Terra. Listen to me. All that, yeah, it's bad. It's worse than the worst news I could imagine. Except for one thing." She waited, not comprehending. "That one thing being, you're here, you're alive, you're safe, and you're in my arms." He pulled her in, crushing her into his chest (and yes, mmmmm, he'd definitely been filling out!) and held her there, next to his heart, his arm around her waist, until the steady double-beat, _thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump_ seemed to merge with her own. "That part kinda cancels out all the rest of the bad.

"I don't know how it was for you, there, with Slade. I don't know how you feel about what happened—yet. But I will. But I want you to know how I feel: all that, that happened before, it doesn't matter now."

Again, he raised her face up to his. "I love you, Terra Markov, and I want the world to know that. I want you in my life every waking moment-and every sleeping one, too. I want yours to be the first face I see in the morning, and the last one I kiss goodnight. I wanna be with you everywhere and you be everywhere with me.

"Will you?"

She could barely see through the fresh tears. "Will I-?"

"Will you be mine, Terra, and let me be yours, now and forevermore?"

She was staggered by the weight of what he was asking. "Beas—I mean, Gar, are, are you asking me to, to _marry_ you?"

"Sorta kinda. I know we're both a bit young and all, and I don't want you to feel pressured or anything. But, ultimately, yeah. Maybe in a year or so down the road. Not right away. But for now, I just want you totally in my life." He paused, looking at her face, his customary grin starting to reappear. "So. Whaddaya say? Wanna think about it?"

"Yeah." She wiped her eyes for what seemed like (and probably was) the millionth time in the past three hours. "Okay, I've thought about it. _Yes! Oh, yes, yes, Gar! A hundred times yes!"_ she yelled, flinging her arms around his neck and all but jumping up and down, as best she could, given their close proximity to each other.

Meanwhile, a considerable distance away, a man looked up from a scanner he'd been gazing into with one baleful eye.

The loss of his former apprentice (and, incidentally, sex partner) hadn't irritated Slade half as much as the disruption of his plans. Now the timing of everything was thrown off. True, Terra was powerful, more so than anyone realized, but that wasn't the important factor. Slade had been around long enough to know that power, all by itself, wasn't everything.

And power without control was even more dangerous than no power at all. Terra herself was living proof of that.

Control, on the other hand…..

The Titans might have been shocked to learn how little of a grudge Slade actually carried towards them. To him, they were basically a nuisance, foiling his plans over and over until he'd finally determined that he must, at some point, deal with them. He'd actually _tried_ (at least, in his own mind) to find some means of handling them in a nonconfrontational way, but that had proven to be somewhat less than totally satisfactory. That only left him with, basically, one option: strike first, get them out of the way or incapacitated, then proceed with the mop-up. He had no illusions about the ability of Jump City's more mundane constabulary to deal with his shock-troops.

The Justice League, now, was a different story.

Slade was not a fool. He knew neither he nor his minions would be able to stand against a veritable skyful of super-powered opponents. And that wasn't even counting Lex Luthor and his Secret Society, who could be, _ahem_, a trifle _unrestrained _ in dealing with those they regarded as competition. He definitely had to fly under the radar for both those groups until he'd cemented himself firmly in place as the ruling power here.

No, there would be other apprentices, perhaps some more amenable to his wise counsel. Surely they couldn't _all_ be idealistic zealots, or (even worse) hormone-driven teenagers. Perhaps the thing to do was to find someone either younger or in some way more isolated from his/her peers, so that outside distractions would be minimized.

Currently, his scanner was fixed on Beast Boy's room, watching the two young lovers embrace. If only we weren't enemies, he thought. What an apprentice Beast Boy would make! Imagine, being able to become any animal, even those long extinct! Slade's single eye widened as he imagined the possibilities. What if…what if Beast Boy could also become _imaginary_ creatures?

Well, there was no point in pondering that which would never be. His own experience, as well as the somewhat-less-than-stellar-success story of Brother Blood, had taught him the wisdom (or lack thereof) of trusting unwilling partners. No, his next apprentice would be totally and personally committed to his own goal of domination. He sat back, and, for a brief moment, allowed himself a small sigh of exasperation. Didn't the fools see that the only way to restore order to Jump City was from the top down? Fighting crime in the streets was akin to trying to put out a forest fire by urinating on its leading edge: not only was it ineffective, it got you dangerously close to the action.

Not that his current plan wasn't risky, but, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if he were even moderately successful, he stood a good chance of acquiring the resources to be able to take the fight not only to the Teen Titans, but even to the Justice League itself.

_To be continued…._


	6. Phoenix Ascending, chapter 6:Reflections

_Here's chapter 6 in "Phoenix Ascending." Things are starting to happen now, so please pay close attention. As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 6: Reflections

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_It had been floating through space for centuries, maybe longer. It did not have any concept of "time" as humans understood it; it marked such only by the passing of events: a stray cosmic particle, the decay of certain atomic nuclei, the stately revolution of the stars about their central galactic hub…_

_It had witnessed two such revolutions._

_It did not get bored; it was incapable of such emotion. It remained alert for the slightest change in its environment, particularly one that would signal the existence of that peculiar phenomenon known as _Life.

_Every so often, it would register some nonrandom change in its environment, one that might indicate _Life_. Each time it scanned the area from which the signal emerged; each time it found nothing._

_A human being would have given up or gone mad eons ago, but it was not human._

_Now, however, it registered a nonrandom signal emerging from one part of the galactic island through which it drifted. As before, it focused its attention on that area. Had it been anything like human, it would have expected to find nothing, as it had countless times before. But it wasn't, and such expectations were foreign to it. It focused its senses on the area from which the signal had come…._

…_.and was rewarded with a repeat of the energy signature it had detected earlier. And another. And another. Information coded onto electromagnetic wavelengths; surely a sign of _Life_._

_It had very little in the way of free will, at least, as humans would have understood the term. It turned towards the source of the signals, and began to move._

Slade finished up his work and sat back to allow the program to compile. Given the speed of his computers, that shouldn't take long. Communication was the key, and the only weakness in his plan, but his computers were more than suited to that particular task. With any luck at all, his _ally_ would soon arrive. And he'd be ready.

"C'mon, Terra! Let's go shopping!" Beast Boy was practically dragging the reluctant girl by the arm.

"Uh, Beast Boy? I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

"Why not?"

"Well, remember, I tried to take over the city not all that long ago. I'm sure some people remember me, and not fondly, either."

"Oh, that. Put that thought out of your head; I don't think anyone got that good a look at you, all that dust and fog that got kicked up. And I haven't seen anything like, y'know, wanted posters or even any decent descriptions of you anywhere, so that's not an issue. Besides. You need some things."

"Oh? Like what?"

He grinned and pointed at her eyes. "Well, for one thing, some bottled water. You've probably lost about a half-gallon. And tissues. And wouldn't you like a change of clothes?"

"But I don't have any money!"

"It's on me." She started to protest, but he stepped all over that. "Don't say it; you'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?"

"Well, of cour-*"

"Then it's settled." Soon they found themselves at the shopping mall, pouring through the clothing stores. Terra had, in fact, managed to get outside several bottles of Dasani in record time. "Guess I was thirsty."

He grinned again. "Can't imagine why."

The clothing stores proved a bit disappointing; few of them carried anything in her size. She finally had to settle for getting a few things a size or two larger and either belting or tying them up. Fortunately, her favorite colors (in clothes) were readily available.

She finally settled on three pairs of khaki cargo shorts and three pairs of black tees, none of which were size-critical. Finding belts was a little harder, but she managed. "Never realized I was this-_uh_-skinny before…"

"Hey, it's been two years since you had a decent meal. Speaking of, how does apple pie sound?" He glanced at his watch. "We're exactly at the right time to avoid the crowds."

He was right. Ben's was about as uncrowded as either of them had ever seen it: with the exception of the staff, they were the only people there.

No matter what time of day or night Beast Boy had been there, the food at Ben's was always hot, always fresh. He knew they _had_ to microwave _some_things, but they didn't seem to, and he couldn't tell it if they did.

While they were savoring the apple pie, she noticed him watching her. "Penny for 'em," she asked.

He reached over and took her hand. "Just thinking how lucky I am." She blushed. How was it that he could always make her do that? Not that she really _minded_…and why was _that_? "Gar? Tell me something."

"Sure. Anything."

"How is it…you never gave up on me…before? I mean, I tried to kill you, and you still-*"

"Terra, don't. Don't torment yourself with that. As to your question, well, let's just say I have some first-hand experience at what it's like to be all alone in the world, to feel like you're on the outside and nobody understands. I mean, look at me. I'm green. Hard to get more different than that an' still be bipedal. Ever since my parents died…" He stopped, scowling uncharacteristically.

Now it was her turn to reach for his hand. "Tell me what happened."

He sighed and sat back, his pie forgotten. "My parents were biologists in Africa. When I was very young, I came down with a rare disease known as Sakutia. Fatal in humans. My dad-I barely remember him-had developed an experimental cure for it. They only had enough for one dose. So they gave it to me. Saved my life…and gave me green skin and the shape-changing powers." He paused. Her expression said, _go on_. "But I was still very _little._ I could change shape, like, into a bird…but I could barely carry myself, let alone someone else.

"Then one day there was a flood. I—I couldn't save them," he finished, looking away, fighting back tears. "I know…it's unreasonable, but…I always think, maybe I could've done _something_…"

She squeezed his hand. "Gar…did you see them…?" After a moment, he nodded. "Yeah. They went over a waterfall, right in front of me. I tell myself there was nothing I could do, but…."

"Gar…honey…there was nothing you could do. You said it yourself: you were too little. You can't go on beating yourself up over something like that."

He sniffled, and wiped his eyes. "Dunno. I've done a pretty good job so far."

For once she didn't smile. "Now that's not funny. You're hurting someone I love."

He sighed and sobered somewhat. "Okay. I'll try to do better. But I sometimes think…that I hold onto that pain, that painful memory, because, because it's the only thing I have left of them, the, the memory of them going over the falls, telling me to save myself. And yeah, I know about Survivor's Guilt, but, but it's not that. The only clear memory I have of them is of them dy-*"

Without thinking, she suddenly leaned across the table, gripped him behind the neck, and kissed him, not caring who was watching. At his surprised expression, she drew back, putting her finger to his lips. "They wanted you to live, not be miserable, mired in the past. Remember that part."

He smiled. "Nice way to bring me back to reality. I could get used to it."

She giggled. _Such a delightful sound,_ he thought. "Well, get used to it, Mr. Garfield Logan, 'cause I'm sure not giving up."

His eyes grew big. "Oh! We forgot something!"

"We did? What?"

He was blushing crimson. "Well, you know, uhm…undergarments. We totally forgot about those."

"Oh! Uhm, right…" They were both blushing now. Somehow, the notion of _Terra in her underwear_ just plain did things to him, things he wasn't too sure how to deal with yet.

Back to the clothing store. While Terra was trying on some bras (and privately wondering if she'd ever fill out), his T-cell rang. It was Robin. "Beast Boy? Where are you right now?"

"At the shopping mall, with Terra. Why? Is something up?"

"You could say that. There's a giant…_thing_…attacking downtown. We need you!"

"On my way. Just lemme collect Terra." He closed the T-cell, and looked around. Now where did she….

A flash of blonde hair caught his eye. There; right over there, with her back to him. She must've slipped past him while he was on the phone…

He ran over to her, noting all the while that she'd picked out a new wardrobe. Hm. It looked like a high school uniform…"Terra!"

The girl in front of him turned around. It wasn't Terra.

Or…was it? This girl could've been Terra's identical twin, except that she parted her hair down the middle, was perhaps a bit shorter, and was currently looking at him with a frightened unfamiliarity that couldn't be feigned. "I'm—I'm sorry? Were—were you talking to me?"

"Uhhmm….Terra?" It was uncanny. For a brief moment, he considered that maybe she was playing a prank of her own, on him. That she'd slipped past him somehow, put on an entirely new set of clothes, somehow gotten some schoolbooks, and was pretending not to recognize him. But no, _this_ girl looked altogether too scared to be acting.

"No—o, I, I believe you have me confused with someone else." She backed up still farther, looking around for support, clutching her books in front of her like a shield.

He backed up, hands up in a non-threatening gesture. "I-I'm terribly sorry, miss. It's just…I'm sorry, I thought you were somebody else. I didn't mean to scare you." It could be a trifle discombobulating, he realized, to have a strange green person rush up to you from behind and start calling you by another name.

"That's—uh—quite alright, uh, Beast Boy, isn't it? You're with the Titans, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged." He backed up some more. "Please forgive me, I didn't mean to, to frighten you. I just thought you were somebody else, somebody I know," he repeated.

"That's—that's alright. I, uh, get that sometimes," she responded in a tone of voice that said she really didn't. "Well, uhm, I have to go."

"Yes, so do I." She turned and vanished into the crowds. He couldn't help but follow her with his eyes…

Terra rejoined him. "Oh, hey, Terra. Look, uh, we gotta go, there's a giant whatsis tearing up midtown. They need me."

"Oh, okay. Gar?" she raised an eyebrow at him. "Is something wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Not a ghost." He related the encounter to her. "And I swear, from the back, she looked just like you."

She smiled a mischievous smile. "Oh, from the _back_ she looked like me, huh? Well. I see where _your_ attention goes." She wiggled her hips.

He slapped his forehead. "I meant her _hair!_" But it was too late. He realized he'd have a hard time living this one down.

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 7: Alliances

_Here's chapter 7 of "Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending." I hope everyone's enjoying it. These chapters may seem a bit slow, but rest assured, __**that**__ won't last. As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review! And thank you!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 7: Alliances

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_It had arrived in the stellar system from which the signals emerged. Initial scans of the planetary objects would've been disappointing, had it been capable of such emotion: small planetoids, gas giants, and rocks, rocks, and more rocks, with only two worlds capable—by its standards-of harboring _Life._ And one of those was an aberration; a world forever cloaked in a choking miasma of carbon dioxide, with a surface temperature in the hundreds of degrees. Though one of the moons of the largest gas giant showed promise: there was actually an indication of water there._

_The third planet outward from the primary star was the source of the signals that had alerted it. It moved inward to investigate._

Slade watched his monitors carefully. The…_thing_…he'd contacted was indeed here. Now he could begin Phase II.

_More coded electromagnetic signals, these different from the first. These wavicle packets seemed to be attempting to establish some means of communication between it and the sender._

_It saw no reason to disallow this, and much to be gained by permitting it. So it did._

Yes! He was in…a vast flood of information, almost more than his machines could handle, flowed into his databanks.

What he'd contacted appeared to be what Earth scientists had termed a Von Neumann device: a self-replicating machine designed to seek out optimum conditions, and then build copies of itself from local materials. Well, it wouldn't have the chance to do _that_. He'd heard about the incident with the Justice League, and had already taken steps to ensure that a similar occurrence wasn't going to happen. Already his own programs were insinuating themselves into the probe, altering its basic programming, so that it no longer served its ancient Masters.

Now, it would serve _him._

"Aw, man, am I ever _beat,_" Beast Boy moaned, pressing an ice pack against his throbbing head. "I don't _ever_ wanna go through _that_ again. I'd rather fight a dozen Trigons any day."

"Knock it off, Beast Boy. We all took a pounding."

"Yeah? I don't recall seeing _you_ get kicked in the head by a moving brick wall."

Cyborg interrupted the two. "So…any guesses on just what that thing_ was_ , anyway?"

Robin shook his head, lips pressed firmly together. "No. But I'm gonna find out." He headed to his room, leaving the remainder of the team to convalesce in the main, or TV, room.

None of them had escaped totally unscathed; even Starfire was sporting a spectacular bruise on her left cheek. It did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm. "My friends! We must celebrate! We have vanquished a truly formidable enemy this day…"

"Uh, Star?" Raven spoke up. "I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but maybe we should postpone the celebration until we recover? I don't know about anyone else, but I need some serious meditation time. I've a hunch more than one of us will be sore in the morning."

"But of course, Friend Raven! Uh, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, just-*"

"Oh!" exclaimed Beast Boy, "I gotta go check on Terra! Uh, later, guys." And he took off at a dash, completely forgetting his own injuries, the ice-pack falling to the floor. Starfire watched him run out of the room. "Friend Beast Boy seems to be recovering nicely," she muttered. Raven just smirked.

At the door to Terra's room, Beast Boy signaled. She opened it almost immediately, so fast that he wondered if she'd been standing at the door waiting for his signal. "Terra? How's it coming?"

She gasped when she saw him. "Garfield! What on _earth_ happened to you? You look like you've gone ten rounds with the Terminator!"

"Hey, I don't think Ah-nold would've been able to do _this_ to me. No, this was some monster that seemed to be able to take on the properties of whatever it touched. Robin's looking into it now, seeing if he can trace it somehow. But that's not important. How are you?"

She pulled him in, and pushed him into a chair. Rummaged around for the military grade first aid kit every Titan kept in their rooms. "Well, I'm better than you! Look at you; you're one solid bruise from head to toe!" She fussed over him, applying cold compresses, and antiseptic wipes to his numerous cuts and abrasions. He found that he actually kinda liked it.

"It's okay, Terra, I'm fine."

"Shyeah, tell me the one about Snow White next. Now hold still…."

"_Yeow!_ What was that?"

"Rubbing alcohol. I know it stings…"

"That's an understatement!"

"…but it'll keep out infections. Now take off your shirt. It's all slashed to ribbons, anyway…" And so for the next hour, she treated him. "You are gonna be so sore in the morning…"

"All in a day's work for us superheroes."

"Yeah, well, maybe you could work a little less hard? Now. Take off your pants."

"Uhhh…what?"

"I said, take off your pants. They're slashed to bits, too. C'mon, Gar. I gotta get to your injuries."

"Uhm…..o—kay…." This wasn't quite how he'd envisioned the way this sort of thing would go.

She noticed his hesitation. "Gar? Do you want me to get Cyborg or Robin in here?"

"No, no, Cy's probably down in his 'body shop'. He had some repairs to make. And Robin's way too busy. No, I can handle this." And he slid out of his tattered pants, allowing her to minister to his injuries. After all, he told himself, I'm still wearing my shorts. Nothing indecent here.

After she was done treating his injuries, she came and knelt by him. "So. Tell me about it. Just what _was_ that, that, thing, anyway?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. It came outta nowhere, started attacking everything in sight, then just….disappeared."

She shook her head. "But where do these things _come _from, anyway?"

"Hey, you know how it is. Somebody falls into a reactor, or finds out his father was from another planet or something. Superpowers come free with your breakfast cereal these days."

"Gar? Honey?" She took his hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, but have you ever thought about some other line of work? I mean, you could'a been…seriously hurt."

"Don't knock it. You oughtta see my life insurance policy. Our kids'll be well fixed." She made no comment, but held his gaze and didn't smile. "Okay, okay, bad joke. But, Terra, in all seriousness, think about it: do you really see me just standing by and letting innocent people get hurt, when I could do something about it?"

Now she lowered her eyes. "No, I guess not. How are you feeling? And don't say, 'mostly with my hands.'"

He winced and put a hand behind his head. "Not too bad. You really did a good job fixing me up. I'll just go shower up now, get a change of clothes." He stood up, and turned towards the door.

"Want some help?"

He turned slowly, blushing a deep crimson as he realized what she was asking—or perhaps _offering_ would be a better word. "Ah, uhm, I, I believe I got this covered. In fact, I think I'll take a bath rather than a shower. Yeah, that's it. A nice, hot bath. Soak in the tub for about an hour. Might loosen up the ol' muscles a bit." _Stupid! Stupid! You just wasted a golden opportunity there!_

_No, he told himself. Not stupid. I do want her, want her more than anything. But I want her in the right way, at the right time. _"Might take a rain-check on that assistance, though." He said, trying to sound suave.

Smiling, she reached up on tip-toe and kissed him. "Count on it, sweetheart."

"_Green Lantern, this is Hawkgirl, at the station. Are you in the area?"_

"Roger on that, Shayera. I'm just coming back from Oa. Anything wrong?"

"_Maybe. Sensors are showing a huge I-don't-know-what just passing the orbit of Mars, heading this way. It doesn't respond to any hailing frequencies. Maybe you could do a once-over."_

"Definitely. Green Lantern out." Hal turned his ring on the portion of space indicated. "Whoa. What _is_ that thing, anyway?"

Abin Sur's mental "voice" spoke up, out of the ring itself. _"Unknown alien artifact. Construction: unknown. Purpose: unknown. Age: indeterminate. Projected point of origin: somewhere in the constellation known to Earth astronomers as Bootes."_

Jordan spoke to his ring. "Check the Guardians' files, see if there's been anything like this on record."

"_Checking. Checking. Checking. No record of any such artifact on file. More data needed for analysis." _There was an almost human-like pause. Then, _"Advise extreme caution."_

_You don't say,_ Hal almost muttered. But the sarcasm would've been lost on the ring, anyway. He moved in for a closer look.

The thing was _huge._ It easily dwarfed the largest asteroid, and came close to rivaling Earth's moon in sheer size…but not density. Passive gravitational measurements indicated it had to be mostly hollow, or have some means of altering the fabric of space artificially, so as to appear that way. Active sensors, on the other hand….

"C'mon, don't give me that blank look," muttered Jordan, shaking his ring, as if that would do any good. "What's it made of, anyway?"

"_Composition: unknown."_

"That's what I thought you said." He sighed. He'd just have to go take a look. At least there was nothing yellow about it.

He avoided going around front; that end looked way too much like a cannon-mouth for his comfort. Hal Jordan didn't lack bravery (no Green Lantern did), but there was a fine line between being brave and being foolhardy. Nor did he choose to go around back; if the thing used any sort of reaction drive, that could easily be as dangerous as any weapon. Instead, he landed about midway between the two ends. Funny; there didn't seem to be any irregularities on the surface; nothing that could be an air lock opening or anything….

In appearance it looked like a huge jet engine, with two enormous protrusions in front, and two more in back. The "intake" area was truly gigantic, easily a couple hundred earth miles across, and, as near as he could tell, completely empty. Its cross section was more or less oval, and this seemed to determine its orientation. It was currently canted at a slight angle to Earth's axis.

With his ring's artificial gravity holding him onto the object's "top", he focused the emerald energy on the surface of the thing. And received another shock. "What th'?" His ring had no effect on it whatsoever. That shouldn't be. This object wasn't yellow, yet the ring's energy just seemed to soak into it. He frowned, concentrating his willpower into a laser-thin beam of green brilliance…

Nothing. The beam just went into the object, seeming to soak into it like water into a sponge. Considering that there were several tens of thousands square kilometers of it…."Green Lantern to Watchtower. I'm at the object, but I've no more answers than you do. I can't even tell if it's a construct or not; I don't see any seams or welding anywhere. It's all smooth. And I can't get access. Something about the material; my ring is completely ineffective. We need another approach. Who's available?"

"_I'll check around. You're thinking maybe Dr. Fate? Or Zatanna?"_

"See if Superman's available, too. His X-ray vision…but this thing is definitely not from around here. What's its actual heading?"

"_It seems to be slowing down, settling into orbit around Earth's L5 points, albeit a very high one. Which is good; I don't like it, Hal. It's just too…something about it gives me a bad feeling."_

Hal Jordan scratched his chin. "It _could_ be totally harmless. But, yeah, that's not the way to bet. But we definitely need backup. I'll hang around 'till somebody else gets here. Tell 'em to home in on my signal. Jordan out."

Back in his lair, Slade held his breath. This was the acid test; if the probe could pass it, the rest would be straightforward. He'd instructed the probe, remotely, to take no overt action, but merely wait. From the information he'd gathered about it, it had no weapons. All it had to do was wait the League out, then leave in a different direction. But, of course, before it did, he'd make his move.

And if the League _did_ commandeer it somehow, still no loss. He had agents within their organization ready to appropriate any knowledge they derived from it.

That was the good thing about data; you didn't have to actually _steal_ it. You could just copy it, and none the wiser.

"What've we got?" Superman asked as he floated into a landing next to Green Lantern.

"I was hoping you could tell me. According to Shayera, this thing just appeared out of nowhere. My ring can't affect it. Can you see into it, tell us anything?"

Superman frowned in concentration, the pupils of his eyes dilating as his vision shifted into the high x-ray range. Here in space, with no atmosphere to block x-rays, his vision was amazingly acute; not just being able to see more, but with so much more _clarity_. "Hm. Not much….there's an awful lot of it I can't see; force-fields or something blocking me. I don't see any sign of life-forms. Or any place for life-forms to live, even."

"What do you think? Kryptonian, Thanagarian, Fourth World?"

"I don't see any sign of Apokolips technology…and it's definitely not Kryptonian, though some of the designs _do_ look oddly familiar. Let me see…" He reached down and tried to get a grip on the strange material of the thing.

But his hands just closed on what appeared to be a frictionless surface. "Hm. That sorta figures. You don't see any meteor punctures or even any dents. And this thing's _old._ You know it's been out here long enough to get a few, if whoever built it hadn't taken precautions. Makes me wonder what it's got to hide." He didn't want to try punching it; that would be a hostile action, and the object had made no hostile moves so far. Besides, there could conceivably be living beings within, who'd be harmed by such an action. Same with his heat vision. "Well, the only thing to do is wait for Dr. Fate."

_It sensed the two on its surface; they posed no deterrent to its mission. The Slade-entity was busy copying data from its databanks; this was permitted, there being nothing critical there._

_Now it sensed the two organic beings on its surface flying around to the front of it. It followed them with its senses, ever watchful, recording their conversation for future reference: "Hm. Hal, I don't see anything in this…this…middle part. I would've thought they'd include forcefields or access tunnels or something, but there's nothing. What do you think?"_

"_Don't know. You don't see any residue, anywhere? Something must've come through here, at some time or other."_

"_If it did, it was a mighty long time ago. I can't even really imagine what a space this large would be used for. A cargo bay, maybe?"_

"_Then where are the docking hatches? I don't see anything like that. It's all smooth, like the outside."_

"_What about your ring? Any luck in here?"_

"_Nope. It's just like the outside. As far as my power ring is concerned, this mass of whatever around us just doesn't exist."_

"_That's….disturbing. I don't like it."_

"_You're starting to sound like Batman."_

"_Bruce is one of the smartest men I know. We could use his input."_

"_Good idea. Shayera?"_

_To be continued…._


	8. Chapter 8: And Now A Word

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending

Chapter 8: And Now for a Word from Our Sponsor…

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_As before, I don't own any of these characters, but the concept is sure fun…_

"Aww, c'mon, man! Nobody even _makes_ tofu pizza!"

"Sure they do. Pizza Junction, the place we always order from. I asked 'em specifically. They haveta special order it, but they have it. It just costs extra, that's all."

"Man, I will NEVER understand what it is with you and tofu, anyway." Cyborg turned away disgustedly, and began to dial, to place their order.

Beast Boy stood his ground, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Cy. Think for a minute: you didn't much like it when Silkie ate one of your legs, now, did you?"

"That's different!"

"Yeah? How? You're made—partly—out of metal. I'm made out of meat. How's it different?"

Robin chuckled. "He's got you there, Cyborg. Give it up. Neither one of you is ever gonna convert the other." Cyborg just grumbled under his breath. Actually, Cyborg was secretly pleased at Beast Boy's resoluteness. Whereas previously, he would've just traded banter, now he actually backed up his arguments with intelligent, thought-through responses. It showed a level of maturity he hadn't had before. _My little buddy's growing up,_ he thought. Again, there was this unfamiliar sting in his right eye.

They had settled in to watch _Wicked Scary 3.5_ (_with_, of course, the alternate beginning, ending and deleted scenes, Not Shown in Any Theatre!) when the usual argument between Cyborg and his Vegan friend erupted. Not that anyone had really been expecting anything else. It was the standard warm-up preliminaries for movie night. Sorta like the old Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes cartoons at the theatres, only in real life.

"Well, anyway, let's get some toppings goin' here. Robin? Same as before?"

"You know it. Pepperoni and extra cheese. Oh, and maybe a few black olives."

"Starfire?"

"I believe I will be having the large Lovers of Meat pizza with a large container holding that most delectable of beverages: Mustard! Yes, I MUST HAVE MUSTARD. Oh, and please instruct the baker that I would very much like the meat to be cooked extremely rare. In fact, if he could serve it raw…"

"He can't. Board of Health would shut him down. I'll tell 'em make it as underdone as he legally can. 'Zat be okay?"

"Of course!"

"I'll have the same, o'course, only well cooked for me. Raven? The usual?"

"Yes. Vegetarian pizza with lots of extra cheese."

"And now, Beast Boy, you've already selected yours, so that just leaves Terra. Terra? What toppings would you like on your pizza?"

"Uhm. I really hadn't thought about it much. You know me; I like pretty much anything. But I just might try a tofu pizza. Those do come with vegetables, don't they?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then that's for me."

The movie started. The Thing That Would Not Die was duly resurrected and made its way slurplingly across the swampy landscape, tentacles and all. Terra hid her eyes. "Tell me what's happening, Gar."

"It's alright, I don't think anything's gonna-* Oh, crap."

"What? What?"

"Cheerleader just bought it."

"Which one?"

"The mean one."

"Oh." She unshaded her eyes. "How'd she get it?"

"The Thing hijacked a steamroller. Oh, look. She's alive. In the hospital. In rooms 367, 368, and 369."

"She looks like the coyote in those old Road Runner cartoons. Say. What happened there?"

"The Thing threw her into a car wash. Washed all her mascara off. There wasn't anything underneath."

"Oh. Yeah, but at least her rings and jewelry sure came out nice and shiny."

"_Oooh_. Can you really _do _that to somebody with a Zamboni, anyway?" And so on, with the Thing gleefully mutilating its way through nearly the entire teenage population of Springwood Lake Resorts.

Midway through the movie, the Titans' red telephone rang. This was their hotline to the upper echelon of superheroes. "I'll get it," said Robin automatically, regretfully getting up from beside Starfire on the couch. He knew when the red phone rang, something had to be up. "Titan's Tower, this is Robin."

"_Robin, this is Hawkgirl, at the Watchtower. I need to let you know of a 451-0 in progress."_

"451-0, I copy. Is Br—I mean, is Batman there?"

"_Yes, but he's in tactical right now. Can I get a message?"_

"No. Just let him know my private line's open, and we'll be ready if needed." They exchanged a few more words.

"_Understood. Watchtower out."_

He made his way back to the couch. "Robin?" Starfire asked worriedly, "is something wrong?" He seemed…tense.

"No. Not yet, anyway. Hold on a moment, people. Pause the movie." Cyborg had the controls, and paused it right in the middle of a particularly messy death scene. "That was the Justice League. They called to alert us to an alien presence. It seems there's a large probe or something currently in orbit around the Earth."

"A probe? And none of my sensors went off?" Cyborg's interest was piqued. Ever since they'd had to fight off a pack of Gordanian slavers to free Starfire, he'd made it a point of personal honor that _his_ sensors, that _he_ designed, didn't miss _any_thing. They'd all become much closer now, and the idea of a bunch of lizard thugs wanting to take _their_ sweet, lovely Starfire back to their home planet as a slave made him see red. He sometimes idly wondered how he'd look in a nice pair of lizard-skin boots…

"Apparently not. It's not doing anything, hence the '-0' ending. It's probably nothing—you remember, we had one come through two years ago, same thing, it just looked us over and zipped on its merry way. Didn't even stop to get a tacky tee shirt. But the League wanted us to know, in case things go south. So we're backup. So to speak."

"Okay! Now can we _pleeeze_ start the movie again? And back it up just a bit, would'ja, Cy? Start this scene over?" Beast Boy pleaded.

"Aw, man, you do know you can't really kill somebody with a leaf blower, don't you? At least, not like that, anyway." But he rewound it back to the scene's beginning, and everybody cheered.

Or, rather, almost everybody. Robin, Starfire noticed, was sitting forward, and had that look about him, that intense, serious look. She sighed. The movie experience was spoiled for him tonight. And for her, as well. He wouldn't even be seeing the movie anymore; only logistics charts and battle plans on the inside of his head. She knew him; in a moment, he'd hop up and run into the Tower's tac center, and start running battle simulations, based on worst-case scenarios. "Robin?" she whispered softly in his ear so none of the others could hear, "do you wish me to go up and do the looking over of this probe?"

Now it was his turn to sigh. "No, Star." He bit his knuckle. "The League's on the job….but right now, the job involves letting us second stringers know what's going on, in case something happens, and we wind up being first stringers." He sighed again and leaned back. Now came the part he dreaded and hated worse even than battle: the waiting.

She lay back beside him on the couch. "I do not know of this custom of first stringing and second stringing. But I can guess. If we are called upon to be the stringing of the first, then things must be very bad, yes?"

He couldn't deny it. "Yes, Starfire, it would have to be very very bad."

"Then could I ask a favor?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Of course, Star, you know you always can."

She lay back on the couch, pressing her fingers against the sides of her arms. "I fear I am still a bit sore from the battle. I would like to go lie down in a nice dark area for a while. Robin?" Robin, once more sunk into introspection, jumped slightly upon hearing his name, "uh, yes, Starfire?"

"Would you please bring me the ointment we obtained from the apothecary on Okaara? I believe it might help soothe this pain." She got up and floated to the door; Robin left, heading for the medlab, still preoccupied. It was a wonder he didn't bump into a wall on the way.

"Gar?" Terra sounded worried. "Is Star alright? I thought she healed faster'n anybody."

"Uh, well…." Beast Boy rubbed the side of his face while Cyborg just grinned in the darkness. "Star's fine, Terra. While I don't have any hard evidence, this sounds like more of a way to get Robin to chill than anything else."

"This ointment's for him?"

"No—o, but I have a hunch what'll get him to relax is the _way_ she gets him to use it. And, uh, where. Get it?"

Terra burst out laughing, and threw herself back against the couch. "_Oh-_ho! Score one for the Princess! Kewl!"

Up in her room, Starfire proceeded to prepare herself. She took off her armlets, then her top, which was designed so that she didn't really need a bra underneath it, then removed the bottom part, then her boots. She _did_ wear panties, and these came off last. She stood in the bathtub and washed herself carefully and thoroughly, paying special attention to certain areas. Now she was ready.

While Starfire might be, in some respects, what Earth people would classify as an "innocent," she was not a virgin, nor had she been when she'd first met the Titans many years before. She'd been trained by the Warlords of Okaara, and raised during a time of interplanetary war. It had been a harsh but thorough upbringing. And, like women throughout history, warriors or not, she knew that there were times when a woman simply had to Take Care of Her Man, because the _gagnet thorbys_ sometimes didn't seem to have sense enough to take care of themselves. She loved Robin with all her heart, and she could already see what would happen: he'd sink ever deeper into this dark mood of his, not eating, not speaking to anyone unless absolutely necessary, and end up brooding until the crisis passed. Then he'd brood some more….and then he'd brood about _that._ This wasn't the first time she'd seen him beat himself up like this. She had to break him out of that cycle. In a sense, she was preparing to do a more intensive, intimate version of what Terra had done for Beast Boy, earlier, at Ben's.

Besides. It was fun.

Her door chime sounded; Robin's voice came through. "Starfire? I have the ointment." She opened the door a crack, hiding behind it so he couldn't see her. He held up the bottle, still with that damnable faraway _look_ in the back of his eyes. "Come in, Robin. I will need you to apply it for me." And she pulled him in. By the time it fully registered with him that she was nude, the door—his only escape-was firmly closed behind him.

"No," replied Cyborg firmly, down in the TV room, "I am NOT turning the volume down. And you," here he turned to Beast Boy, "are NOT changing into ANYthing with hyper-acute hearing, got it? And for that matter, stay human. No turning into flies, mosquitoes, gnats, or anything else that can slip through a keyhole. And you," he turned to the other one, "No sneaking away. I happen to know the ladies' room is in the OTHER direction. C'mon, people. Give 'em some privacy, at least. You'd want the same, wouldn't ya?"

While Starfire was lovingly but swiftly overcoming the surprised not-quite-protests of her willing victim, Slade was busy trying to make sense out of the data he'd gathered from the probe. The technology was completely unfamiliar to him; he'd expected that, but he'd not counted on the probe's usage of materials which, by all the known laws of physics, shouldn't exist. Many weren't even on the periodic table. That complicated things somewhat. Maybe he could make some substitutions.

_An almost inconceivably vast distance away—in both space and time—a Being stood on a grassy hillside, gazing into the night sky from a face that had no eyes, that was not a face. _

_It was time. Time to begin again._

_To be continued. Definitely._


	9. Chapter 9: Sojourner

_And here's chapter 9. As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review, and many thanks!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending

Chapter 9: Sojourner

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_The being was absolutely miserable. It couldn't remember ever being this…this…sorrowful? Was that the word? The being didn't think in English, or any other language that would be recognized as such by humans, but the concept was there._

_It floated through space, wafting past asteroids, drifting through planets and stars, a ripple of black on black. Although it usually enjoyed the energized particles found in the vicinity of the supergiant stars it now passed, it was too despondent to eat._

_It was all its own fault. It had killed its friends._

_It drifted, unknowingly, into the part of space containing Earth's sun. It had no reason to assign any value to this place; it was just wandering. Dimly, it sensed the electromagnetic hubbub around the third planet…_

_No. Oh, no. Not another world of beings it could hurt. For about a nanosecond, the being considered turning and running away as fast as it could. But it was an intelligent being, highly so, and realized that even it couldn't run fast enough to outrun the source of its misery: its own memories._

_And what memories they were. It had found a world populated by semi-bipedal lizard-like creatures, peaceful herbivores. It had found them, and discovered that they were a source of those ever-so-sweet nuggets called _emotions_, and that they radiated these all the time. So for a time, it had amused itself and (it had thought) them by alighting amidst them, causing them to run. Then it would flash to a rock up ahead, and they would turn and run in another direction. It had laughed, and danced among them, causing them to run even faster. It had even tried singing to them, but they didn't seem to be able to hear its song._

_Finally, it realized that the bipeds' behavior was in fact not reflective of what it was trying to get across. They were _afraid_ of it, for some reason, so it had stopped pursuing them and just watched them settle down from a distance. It didn't want them to be _afraid_ of it, no, no, no. So it watched, and learned, easing just a bit closer all the time, until it was no more than a few yards away from them. The younger ones were curious, curious about this large, black, nebulous…_thing_…that they couldn't really even see properly, and several started forward to investigate, but the older members of the herd had firmly shooed them back into the middle of the herd's circle. They remained ever watchful of the being, always keeping one eye on it even while they ate._

_It had tried talking to them. __**"Hello. How are you? I am me and I want to be your friend. Would you like me to sing for you? I have a marvelous new song I've composed, just for you."**____The bipeds made no reply, remained nervous._

_The being sang its song. It was a wordless tune of the wonder of isolation no longer being all it knew, of the joy of meeting new beings, new friends, and the wonderful possibilities inherent there._

_The bipeds, especially the young ones, tried to sing in return, but it was not a total success. Their song seemed to consist of the negative emotions of fear gradually being replaced by the positive ones of safety and security. Things were actually going rather well._

_And then…..oh, then….._

_The being deliberately stopped thinking about what had happened next. If it had had a head, or hands, it would have put its hands to the side of its head, in a futile gesture to actively suppress the memory. But it didn't have any of those things, of course. So it settled in on what Earth astronomers had named Ganymede, and wrapped its outer edges around itself, winglike. Had it thought the matter through, it probably would have left the vicinity of Earth, having had one disastrous experience with similar beings, but the truth was, it wasn't thinking clearly. And, as it might later acknowledge, it actually craved some company, even if said company was unaware of its existence. It was drawn to Earth, and the world of mortals, much like a lost person is drawn to the lights of a city._

_Sometimes, anything's better than being alone._

"I have got to be the absolute _stupidest_ girl on the planet," said the blonde aloud, as she threw herself back onto her pillow. Today, she'd been given—handed, really, as if it were a gift from Heaven—something she'd wished for for over two years, and what had she done with it?

"_I'm—I'm sorry? Were—were you talking to me?"_

"_Uhhmm….Terra?"_

"_No—o, I, I believe you have me confused with someone else."_

"_Please forgive me, I didn't mean to, to frighten you. I just thought you were somebody else, somebody I know." _

"_That's—that's alright. I, uh, get that sometimes. Well, uhm, I have to go."_

Cheeze Louise, girl. First you freeze like a deer in the headlights, then you practically turn and run away. This from the boy you've had a secret crush on for two years, ever since you moved here.

She got up and fished around for her scrapbook. Her parents disapproved of magazines such as _Teen Beat, Seventeen,_ etc., so she did what every other well behaved young lady normally did: she smuggled them in and hid them in her room.

Her scrapbook, now, would have interested a certain green-skinned Teen Titan: it was mostly about him. Oh, not totally. Maybe 95%. Most of the photos were out of date, but that didn't matter to her.

There he was in her clippings. Her fingers traced the purple-and-black costume, the green skin, the pointed ears, the goofy grin…..

He was _simply adorable._ How could _any_ girl _not_ crush on him?

Her two best friends at school knew how she felt. How they'd figured it out, she still didn't know. That she was constantly doodling drawings of a green boy in the margins of her notebooks surely couldn't have given her away. No, surely not.

So many ways she could'a handled it. _"No, I'm not Terra, but I am a big fan of yours. Wanna get a smoothie? I'm buying."_ No, no, no, he was a _celebrity_, f'gawdsakes, he fought those off by the bucketload. Then her eyes narrowed. Terra?

Quickly, she flipped through the pages of her scrapbook. Yes, there, towards the back, were some grainy, low-res photos of him with some blonde-haired trollop at a café downtown. She squinted, looking closer. There _was_ a resemblance. That is, there would be if she was into wearing "grunge _chic._" She scanned the articles, doubting their veracity, but…'established rumor' had it that "Jump City's own green teen guardian, Beast Boy," yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, and even more blah, "been seen squiring the newest member, Terra, around town. Wonder what they're talking about? Bet it's not work related!" The girl felt her face heat up a degree or two.

She read a bit further. Her notes at this point were somewhat sketchy, but there was a rumor that this Terra had died or something?

And he had called her Terra? Why? Well, okay, the resemblance….

She closed her scrapbook and lay back on her bed, calming herself. Perhaps it was just as well. If, after two years, he was still pining away for his lost love, her appearance would only serve to cause him pain every time he saw her. Although she knew some girls would've traded on that, she couldn't. It just wouldn't be right. In fact, the proper thing to do was to have no further contact with him, since her looks would only serve as a painful reminder. Yes. That was a good plan. It was the good, _decent_ thing to do. Quit haunting the pizza parlor where the Titans usually hung out, stop going to that café—what was the name of it? Oh, yes, Ben's—where he had taken that other, uhm, _person_, etc. And, above all, quit _talking_ about him, asking questions, _ad infinitum_ with her friends. Just forget he even existed.

Now, if she could just _do_ it….

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get to sleep. A single tear trickled down the side of her face and dropped onto her pillow.

Sometimes, it was best just to be alone.

_To be continued. _


	10. Chapter 10: Strangers in the Night

_To paraphrase Rod Serling: for your consideration, Chapter 10 of "Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending." A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Chapter 10: Strangers in the Night_

_I don't own any of these characters. Still fun to think about, though._

Back at the Tower, Raven started from a deep sleep. There was something here…in the Tower? Or…in the room with her? She sprang out of bed, fully alert, every defensive spell primed and ready…

But there was nothing there. Carefully, she searched with all her preternatural senses….nothing. At least, nothing in her room.

She widened her search, hands glowing with black light, looking into other areas of the Tower (but carefully avoiding Starfire's room), checking for traces of someone or something coming into the Tower. Again, nothing. No trace of any intruder or intruding entity. And yet, she was certain…

She started to punch the 'alert' button, but refrained. She didn't know what was going on in Starfire's room, but, whatever it was, she didn't want to, as Beast Boy would put it, "bust any bubbles." Nor did she think it a good idea to bother Beast Boy and/or Terra; for all she knew, they might be doing the same thing.

So she picked up her T-Cell and dialed Cyborg's number. Being part machine, he _always_ had his phone on him!

"Yo, Ray, whassup? Besides us, that is," Cyborg's voice came through the T-com. "Course, we probably aren't the only ones still up, if you know what I mean…"

"Cyborg. This is not a social call. Where are you?"

"Down in the garage. Why?"

"Something woke me up. Something, I think, malicious. I can't sense it now, but for a moment, I was certain something was here in the Tower with us."

Immediately, Cyborg got serious. "Any idea what?" She could mentally see him running through sensor graphs for the last few minutes, even as he spoke to her.

"None. And I can't swear it was of evil intent. But it was definitely furtive, like a thief would be. And no, it's not Red X, not unless he's learned to shield himself from me, somehow. Which I really don't think is likely."

"Sensor logs don't show anything. I'm running them now for the past two hours. Still nothing. Ray, I confess, I don't like this whole situation."

"How so?"

"There's a probe up there," she could envision his head tilting upward, towards the ceiling," that my sensors didn't detect. And still can't, I might add. Now you sense something that neither one of us can trace. Maybe the two are connected someway. What's your take on that?"

"There could easily be a connec-* Wait. Incoming call."

It was Beast Boy. "Rae?" He yawned, sleepily. "Are you alright?"

"Of-of course I am, Garfield. Why?"

"No reason. I just woke up with the feeling that you were in danger. Thought I'd give you a quick call 'n' see."

"You felt _I_ was in danger? Me, specifically?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? But, well…" He didn't finish the statement, but Raven could guess the rest: _I couldn't rest until I knew you were okay._

She smiled. He could be as endearing as he was aggravating, sometimes. "Wait. You were asleep? You're…you're alone?"

His image stared out of the T-Com's screen, puzzled. "Yeah. Wh—_oh._ I getcha. Yeah, Rae, I'll….I'll fill you in about…all that…later. But yeah, Terra's in her room. _Probably_ asleep. But I dunno; that was one scary movie. Want me to check on her?"

"Something woke me up as well; a feeling of being watched. Yes, Gar, you might want to check on Terra. But I'm fine, and everything Cyborg and I can come up with is that we're alone in the Tower."

"Good. Yeah, in fact, lemme conference-call Terra….hm, she's not answering. But she may just have her phone off. I'll just zip over there and check." He paused. "Rae? I'm glad you're alright."

"Thank you, Garfield," she murmured into the cell. _Terra's one lucky girl…_

Beast Boy dressed hurriedly, and went down the hall to Terra's room. He signaled, then, when she didn't answer that, he knocked on her door. "Terra? You alright, in there?" He heard the sound of someone moving, then she opened the door, still wearing her sleep shirt, the oversize tee she always slept in, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, Gar, I'm alright. Why? Is something up?"

"Maybe. Something woke Raven. She's usually a sounder sleeper than that. So we're just checking on everybody. It's probably nothing more than a bad dream, but you never know."

"Oh. Yeah. Uhm. What about…." She gestured in the direction of Starfire's room.

"Don't know yet." He opened his T-cell. "Raven? Terra's fine. You think someone needs to look in on, wait, poor choice of words, you think maybe someone needs to check on Robin and Starfire?"

"I'd hate to disturb them on so little evidence. Let me do a discreet, around-the-edges type of probe…." Several minutes passed. Then, "They both appear to be still in there, and, if I'm right, both of them are asleep. I sense no danger from that direction. And neither I nor Cyborg's sensors can find any evidence of anybody but us here in the Tower. Perhaps I troubled all of you unnecessarily."

"No. I trust your senses, Rae. Remember, you didn't wake me up; that happened on its own. But I guess we can all go back to sleep."

"I suppose. Raven out."

"'Night, ya'll."

Terra looked at Beast Boy with fear in her eyes. "Gar? Could..could it be Slade?"

He shook his head. "Not likely. Usually Raven's ESP is only effective against magical or supernatural things. Even if Slade had the place bugged, she wouldn't detect it unless she was specifically and actively looking for it. No, this was probably just a bad dream on her part."

"What about on yours?" She had him there. And he could tell she was still scared. The notion that it _might_ be Slade had rattled her.

He made a quick decision. "Terra? Tell you what. Why don't you grab some things and come watch a video with me. In my room. You can stay there tonight. And, uh. We can, y'know, talk."

She smiled. "That's sweet of you, Gar. I'm okay, you know, and I hate to be a bother to you…"

"You? A bother? To me? Have I slipped into the Twilight Zone or somethin'? No, seriously. I've slept all I'm gonna, anyway. When Raven senses something, it's probably a good idea for as many as can to kinda bunch up. And I got some wicked movies that the others don't seem to care for. So…whaddaya say?"

She brushed the hair out of her eyes, smiling. "I say, you're on, Mr. Garfield Logan."

Back in her room, Raven floated in mid-air, meditating. She expanded her senses outward-she could sense Beast Boy and Terra moving up the corridor, heading for his room, and could guess why. That actually made good sense, from a tactical standpoint: the fewer people isolated, the better.

She expanded her senses outward, the jarring emotions of the city crashing in on her, causing her to filter them out. Outward, ever outward….

Now she could sense the Justice League, far above the Earth's surface, as they struggled to get something, anything, on the alien probe. Hm. For that matter…

She turned her attention to the area of space where the action seemed to be centering. Strange. She could sense _something_ there, but couldn't really "see" it, even with her mystical senses. But whatever it was, it seemed to be totally quiescent, so she doubted it was the source of her unease earlier.

Outward, ever outward. Now she could sense Mars and the asteroids moving slowly, ponderously in their courses. No life there; nothing that could have caused her to be alarmed.

Hm. There was something on Ganymede. She focused her senses on a spot where she sensed an anomaly….

_{{__**hiccup. Sob**__.}}_ Something was here…

She stretched outward, seeking to identify whatever it was. Physically, there was nothing to see…or was there? She could see one spot in shadow that shouldn't be. _{{Hello? Is someone there?}}_

Again there was a telepathic equivalent of a sob. She got the impression that the entity was drawing tighter around itself, as if it were trying to hide. _{{Hello? Are you in distress? Do you need assistance?}}_

A moment, then a wave of _emotion_ flooded over her, a wordless rejection, that her mind sought to put into words she could understand: _{{__**Go away!**__}}_

_{{Are you hurt? Can I help you?}}_

_{{__**Go away! I don't want to hurt you, too!**__}}_

_{{Calm down. I'm here to help. Are you the entity I sensed earlier?}}_ No response. _{{Are you hurt?}}_ Again, no response. _{{Is there anything I can d-*}}_

{{_**LEAVE ME ALONE!**_}} The sheer psychic _force_ of the feeling/thought sent her soul-self reeling, end over end….

Consciousness fled…

She came to awareness with Cyborg and Beast Boy bending over her. "I think she's coming around, Cy."

"Yeah, give 'er some air there. Yo, Raven. Can you hear me? How many fingers?" He held up two stainless-steel digits.

She blinked, realizing she was lying on the floor of her room. "Yes, I can hear you." Her head pounded; whatever she'd encountered was _powerful_. "I, I found something on Ganymede. It didn't seem to want to be bothered."

"Rae…something _that_ far away, knocked _you_ out? What was it?"

She sat up, noticing that Terra, Starfire and Robin were all in the room with her: Terra, still wearing her "Jump City Gremlins" sleep shirt, while Starfire and Robin were both attired in loose robes. Robin had his mask on; idly, she wondered if he'd worn it all during the evening's adventures. The notion made her smile through her pain. "I don't know what it was, or is. I was asking it if it needed help, and, well, it basically said for me to leave it alone. Very…forcefully." She winced, putting a hand to her head.

"Do you think it's connected with the probe?" Robin seemed perfectly at ease, in command, even if he was in a robe.

"No—o, I don't think so. And I don't think it meant to, to, knock me away like it did. It's just something that's hurting, and doesn't know its own strength."

"Just how powerful is it? Could you guess?"

"A guess? It's a cosmic entity of some sort, so I'm really unsure. But what I sensed of it was _strong._ Maybe potentially Trigon level, or close." Eyes widened. They all remembered (except Terra, presently chewing on the sleeve of her shirt) their battle with Raven's demonic father; that had been really, really close. And, really, they hadn't actually defeated Trigon. It had been Raven, calling upon her full powers, who'd finally won the battle and saved the Earth from a fate considerably worse than mortal death.

"Is it a threat? Should we take action?"

"No! No, it's not a threat, I don't think. I think it just wants to be left alone for now." She sat up a bit more, and Cyborg picked her up as if she weighed nothing. "Want me to put you in your bed, Raven?" All joking was gone from his voice. This was a possible threat he was talking about, one that had knocked her down from millions of miles away. That wasn't his definition of funny.

"I'm fine, Victor," she said, using his first name for emphasis. Not long ago, she couldn't have brought herself to be even that intimate with her teammates. He set her on her feet, arms outstretched to catch her, should she be unsteady. "It's alright, people, I'm okay. It just caught me off-guard, I guess. I'll just lie down a while." She went over and got in her bed, lying face up.

They filed out into the corridor. "Think we should alert the League, Robin?"

Robin thought hard. The League pretty much had their hands full with the alien probe. Still, if later on, something happened…."I'll call and leave a message for Batman. That way, at least they'll be notified." He reached for his T-Cell, only to remember that he wasn't wearing it. "I'll, uh, have to go get my, uhm…"

"Good," whispered Starfire in his ear, "because I believe we are not quite through." She pulled him on down the hallway, but not before the others caught sight of his beet-red face. Cyborg grinned, but didn't say anything.

He turned to Terra and Beast Boy. "Well, later, you two." And with that, he left.

Beast Boy turned to Terra. "So. Wanna check out those vids I was talking about?"

"Sure." Her smile lit up her whole face. _She's like the sun,_ thought Beast Boy. _I am so lucky…_

Meanwhile, back up in Raven's room, the sorceress prepared for sleep, or tried to. The simple knowledge of the alien entity out there made that difficult, but she was comforted by just knowing that her teammates, no, her _family_ was around her.

She tried some light meditation techniques. The thing on Ganymede wasn't a threat, of that she was fairly certain. True, it was powerful, but just wasn't interested in communicating, so that was pretty much that. Not her problem. Idly, on the verge of sleep, she wondered what it could be so upset about. Or what it even was. Well, maybe some other time…

_{{__**Plink**__}}_ That was all, not even a coherent thought, just a feeling, something she recognized: it was aware of her, even across this vast distance. Sighing, she sat up. It didn't look like she was going to get much sleep tonight. Crossing her legs, she entered her meditative state. _{{Look. If you're going to watch me, I wish you'd at least communicate with me.}}_

_{{__**Are you…alright? I did not hurt you?**__}}_

_{{No, you did not hurt me.}}_ She recognized the "tone" of the telempathic "voice": she was dealing with an immature entity here. A child, basically. A child on a cosmic level, true, but a child nonetheless. Raven had mixed feelings about children. _{{Are __you__ alright? It was your distress I sensed, across time and space.}}_

_{{__**Not alright. I am not alright. I will never be alright again.**__}}_

_{{Why? What is wrong?}}_

_{{__**Dead. They are all dead. All dead. Because of me!**__}}_ The woeful "tone" of the thing's "voice" was growing stronger, and Raven knew a moment of alarm. The thing, whatever it was, was strong, and apparently totally undisciplined. She needed to placate it somehow.

But how? What _was_ it, anyway? _{{Who are you?}}_

_{{__**Confusion. I am me. I have always been me.**__}}_

_{{Do you have a name?}}_

_{{__**What is a name?**__}}_ Raven sighed; this was going to take a while, especially since they weren't really communicating by words, so much as feelings that Raven's mind automatically translated into English words. Yet, it was learning, and rapidly. Direct telepathy might be possible soon. For now…

_{{A name is a means of self-designation. My name is Raven. That is what my friends call me. What are you called?}}_

_{{__**More confusion. I am not called anything. I have never encountered anyone to call me anything. Except…**__}}_ The entity paused, and Raven could sense it trying _not_ to remember what had happened. She drew a deep breath.

This entity, whatever, whoever it was, was clearly traumatized, emotionally. She didn't know if she was up to the task of handling it. Still, there was nobody else. Then, without realizing it, she began to do what Starfire had done for Terra earlier. _{{Tell me what happened.}}_

_{{__**I don't want to think about it!**__}}_

_{{Can you keep from thinking about it?}}_

_{{__**No! I mean, yes! I mean….{wordless muddle of emotions, impossible to decipher}….**__}}_

_{{Listen to me. You are experiencing something that others have experienced. I've experienced it, myself, although how it compares with your memories, I don't know. I want to help you, if you will let me, but first you have face up to these feelings. They won't go away, otherwise. I know this from personal experience.}}_

_{{__**Truly?**__}} _

_{{Truly. Now. Tell me what happened.}} And a cascade of emotions and images avalanched in on her…._

_It floated in darkness, all alone, but it did not know about being alone. It was in the darkness and the darkness was it._

_In the darkness, unrelieved by even a single ray of light, it floated. It amused itself. It floated, it played, it danced, it sang to itself and told itself stories, though none of them would be recognizable as such to anything even remotely human. It did not know anything else._

_How long it was there, none could say. It certainly couldn't; the very passage of time was a concept foreign to it. Indeed, such human concepts of "time" and "space" were utterly alien to it, for it was utterly alien to the race of man._

_Then, once, something happened. Just when, would be impossible to say, for it did not reckon time as mortal beings do. A single stray photon flashed past it. Surprised at this unprecedented event, it "caught" the particle in its "tail" (if, indeed, it could be said to have a tail. Or a head, or anything else recognizably such), absorbing it into its being automatically._

_A bright burst of tingly sparkly…_feeling_…shot through it. It was a good feeling; it wanted more. Perhaps there were more of these delightful particles somewhere?_

_It turned its attention to the spot where the photon had come from. Yes, there were more…._

_It moved forward, to investigate._

_Such wonders! Why, here were _many_ more such particles, all radiating from many many clumps spread throughout this new place it had found. Also, there were other, more subtle such radiations, which were even more pleasurable. Call them positive and negative….emotions? Yes, that was as good a term as any. It would certainly do for now._

_Now its attention was drawn to a large solid object, encased in thick gases. Brilliant sparks, hundreds to thousands of earthly miles long flashed between the gas masses—clouds?—yes, the clouds. But there was nothing to radiate those wonderful packets of delight called _emotions._ While it enjoyed the energies present, it realized that, if it wanted to find _emotions_, it would have to look elsewhere._

_Fortunately, there was a great deal of elsewhere to look._

_It found a world with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere (though, of course, it did not think in those terms), with an abundance of green growing things, that utilized the rays of the world's star to produce energy. There were also bipedal beings there, running in groups of twenty or more._

Lovely!_ It descended through the atmosphere and alighted on a nearby rock. The bipeds stared momentarily in amazement, then turned and ran. It flashed to a rock in front of them, and they turned again. It pursued them, lightly touching their flanks or hindquarters, playfully nudging them, which seemed only to increase their speed, even as they turned and ran in a circle. It flashed among them, laughing, dancing, spinning, spurring them on to even greater speeds. Then it paused._

_This action produced emotions, true, but not quite the sort it found most pleasurable. Rather, these emotions had a somewhat sour, metallic "taste"….not really satisfactory. Not what it really wanted. It withdrew a distance and settled down to watch its newfound friends._

_After a while, the bipeds ceased running in circles, and drew together, with the smallest—the youngest, it realized-in the middle. Their emotions remained a confused mass of both positive and negative. Some of them seemed in need of physical recuperation (and what an odd thought that was! Imagine, a being with only a limited amount of physical energy!), so it decided to let them alone for a bit. It withdrew into space; it would find something else to play with, then return and resume the game._

_There were some superb rocks floating not far off. It examined these; why was there no green growing matter on them? It found one, and grasped it, turning it over and over._

_It was rough-textured, with grooves on two sides. One side sported a smooth line down the middle. It turned the rock over a few more times, then tired of it, and gave it a push outward._

_It hadn't really intended to throw the rock at the other rock; that was an accident. However, the first rock collided with the second in a most satisfying way; it could almost hear the "crunch" of the collision, though of course, with no air to carry sound, such was impossible._

_If the being had had hands, it would have clapped them together in delight. Here was a fun game! It grasped another rock and threw it, this time aiming deliberately for yet another asteroid, and was again rewarded with a satisfying collision. The two asteroids broke apart, their pieces spinning off through space. It did this several more times, when the thought occurred to it: perhaps its newfound friends on the planet below would like a rock of their own to play with?_

{{Oh, no,}} Thought Raven, in the here and now.

{{**Oh, yes.**}}

_It looked around. Only the best would do for its new buddies. It chose a nice, big rock, instantaneously calculated the necessary vector, and gave it a playful slap._

_The asteroid —several earthly miles in diameter—tumbled end over end towards the unsuspecting planet below._

_The being was so happy! It danced and flashed from rock to rock. Soon, its new friends would have a splendid new toy to play with! And then, maybe it could show them new ways to play with rocks, and maybe they could show it still more new ways. And they would laugh, and run about, and dance, and sing, and be so very happy together…_

_The asteroid began to glow as it encountered the outer atmosphere of the planet. By this time, it was traveling well past three times the speed of sound…._

_It struck the planet's surface with titanic force, releasing power equal to several hundred thousand megatons of earthly TNT. Firestorms hundreds of miles high erupted, spreading outward around the planet._

_Again, if the being had had hands, it would've clapped them in delight. Such a marvelous fuss and roar! But now there was more of that peculiar "sourness" it had encountered before. It would have clapped its hands to the side of its head, if it had had hands, or a head, or ears, which it didn't. Well, perhaps this was to be expected; after all, it had never had friends before. It didn't know how they would react to its gift. Perhaps they were displeased with it; maybe they had hoped for a bigger rock._

_But now the signals were fading out. The being was puzzled; why should that be happening?_

_It waited a little bit of time and rippled back to the planet on wings of night._

_Puzzlement! Its friends were gone! But where could they have gone to? It knew they did not possess the ability to travel through empty space, as it did. Nor was the rock anywhere to be found…oh, wait. It had broken up so thoroughly upon hitting the planet that tiny bits and pieces of it were floating about in the planet's atmosphere. That might not be a good thing; not only could its friends not play with the rock, but the dust in the atmosphere would block the rays of the sun from the green growing things that they fed upon. It knew the bipeds desired the green growing things (although why, it wasn't too clear on), so perhaps a little cleanup was in order._

_It formed itself into a vast sphere several hundred miles in diameter, and began drawing in the planet's atmosphere, filtering out the dust and small particles, and expelling the now-cleansed air. Its friends wouldn't have a rock to play with, but there was no helping that now. It would just have to get them another. And this time, it would just deposit it gently on the planet's surface. It really should have known better, it rebuked itself, than to think that the rock would be undamaged by its impact on the planet's surface! But first…_

_Draw air in, expel air out. Draw air in, expel air out. Over and over. It was glad it didn't have to do this, as it was a lot of work, but nothing was too good for its little friends._

_Finally, the air was clear again. There had also been some residue from the interior of the planet; apparently ruptures in the surface had periodically allowed a portion of the planet's inside into the outside, at one time or another in the past. The being would have "tsk'ed" to itself, had that concept held any meaning for it; planets did not seem like very stable places to live. But such pollutants were easily dealt with as well._

_Now. Where could its friends have gone?_

_Finally, on the opposite side of the planet, it found two of the bipeds. They were stretched out on the ground, not moving. It moved forward to investigate. They were not emitting the _emotions_ that had first drawn it here. What could be wrong?_

_It nudged them. They did not move, and still refused to emit _emotions_. Were they angry with it?_

_It scoured the planet for the tender grass and shoots the bipeds fed upon. Evidently, the asteroid had not been good for the planet as a whole; there was a lot less green growing things now. But it found some and brought them to its friends. {{__**Hello! I found some of those things you eat. Are you hungry**__?}} The bipeds made no reply, and still emitted no emotions whatsoever. The being was beginning to be alarmed about that…_

_It placed the tenderest shoots just in front of their snouts. Surely they could see them, smell them. But they made no move to eat. The being even tried to feed one, pushing the shoots into its mouth. Maybe they were just weak; the being knew they liked to run around a lot. Maybe…Maybe if they could recover their strength a little, everything would be okay, and it could find out where the rest of the bipeds had gone. But they made no move to eat._

_Now fully alarmed, the being examined them, turning its sense of perception on them like x-ray vision, inside and outside. Their internal differentiated parts did not seem to be working; the fluid flowing through their veins had ceased to do so. And the parts of them that had previously produced those wonderful emotions….wasn't functioning._

_The being considered. Its two friends were now no different than the rocks and dirt. Yet they had been alive, and joyously emitting emotion. Now they were still, and emitted no emotion._

_They had been alive, and now they were not. It sat back, and thought._

_It reviewed recent events. The bipeds had been alive before the being sent them a rock. Now they were not alive._

_The being was a supremely logical entity. When it finished its calculations, it was confronted by two fundamental, undeniable factors: one, its friends had been alive prior to the asteroid, but were not-alive now. They were dead._

_And IT had killed them._

_Wailing in anguish, the being fled into the infinite night of space._

_{{__**That is what happened**__}}_ concluded the entity. _{{__**I did a bad thing.**__}}_

Raven's head was reeling from the "download" of the images and emotions she'd received. This thing, this entity, had murdered an entire world….all in a spirit of _play?_

And yet….it hadn't known.

Raven thought fast. The entity was at a kind of crossroads, here. And it was powerful. There might, she conjectured, there just might be certain tactical advantages to letting it stay traumatized to the point of wishing no further contact with mortal beings. Maybe she should encourage it to have nothing further to do with humans, or related beings….

And yet…it was a child. An infant, really, that had acted without knowing the consequences of its own actions. Could she really do that to it, from a moral standpoint? She remembered that her own people, in Azarath, had wanted to kill _her_ when she was born, lest she let Trigon's evil loose upon the worlds of men. She was alive only because the High Priestess, Azar, had spoken up for her, taken her under her wing.

She sighed. No. There was really no question about it. _{{Listen to me: yes, what you did was bad. But that doesn't mean __you're__ bad. You acted hastily, without thinking things through. But you acted out of ignorance, not evil. __You__ are not bad.}}_

_{{__**Sniff. Truly?**__}}_

_{{Truly. Now listen to me…}}_

Meanwhile, back in Beast Boy's room, Terra couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh, cry, or throw up. Or some combination of the three.

Beast Boy had been right on the money about his collection. A vast array of movies, old and new, that somehow never made it to the big time. He even had a copy of the original _Nosferatu_. She didn't think they even made that one any more. It was actually laughable, to see the vampire slinking around the set, trying to look so sinister….things had sure come a long way since then!

They'd been spot-watching various videos, not really watching any of them all the way through. They'd just get to "the good parts," and then move on to the next one. He had a pretty complete horror library. After watching Christopher Lee bare his fangs for about the fifteenth time, she called a halt to it. "I am exhausted," she said, stretching and yawning on Garfield's bed. "Maybe I'll call it a night." She slipped under the sheet. He'd long ago replaced his bunk beds with a regular queen-sized, for which she was grateful.

"Sure, Terra. I'll just be right here." He morphed into a green dog and curled up beside the bed.

"Oh, no. Not the green dog routine. C'mon, Gar. Change back. I want a boyfriend, not man's best friend." Obediently, he changed back. "Uh, Terra…" Scratching his head. There was only one bed in his room.

She patted the bed next to her. "Right here, silly. Don't be afraid."

"It's not fear I'm feeling right now."

"Gar, honey? I know we talked about this, and we agreed to wait, but…dammit, I just want you in bed beside me here. Just…I just want you here. With me. Tonight. 'Kay?" He started to get in when she giggled. "You normally sleep in your uniform?"

"Oh, right. Uh, no. Be right back." He grabbed a pair of sleep pants and dodged into the bathroom, changing in there. Came back out and slid into bed beside her. She snuggled into his bare chest. "Mmmm. I'm glad you aren't one to sleep in a tee shirt or top."

"Hey, no fair. You get to sleep inna tee shirt."

She looked up at him. "Want me to take it off?" she whispered in a seductive voice. "Gotta warn ya: I'm not wearing anything underneath it…" She laughed as he sputtered, unsure what to say or do. "I'm sorry, Gar. I didn't mean to tease you—well, yeah, I guess I did, but… I'll behave." Then she sobered. "Gar? Can we…talk?"

"'Course. What do you want to talk about?"

"About…what happened before. With Slade. Are—are you up for that?"

"If you are."

"Yeah. I, I feel like I owe you an explanation or something."

"You don't."

"My head knows that, but my heart isn't listening. I, I just hope you won't hate me if I tell you I wasn't exactly forced into it."

He curled his index finger under her chin and turned her face up towards his, his expression serious. "Terra. It doesn't matter. I don't care if you were the one who initiated it, you were lost, alone, frightened, and vulnerable. You thought the world had turned against you. Slade took advantage of that, that's all you can say about it. It was no different than if he'd tied you down or something." He paused a moment. "I sure didn't help things any, what with what I said."

She buried her face in his chest, just enjoying being close to him for a moment. _I've gotta be the luckiest girl on Earth…_ "Gar?"

"Yes, Terra?"

"I have a confession to make." He waited. "I, I really…." She fell silent, unsure how to continue. Then the words came out in a rush. "I really wanted my first time to be with you. I mean, I…even tried to imagine it _was_ you," and he could feel the heat radiating from her face as she spoke, pressed up against his chest, "..but, but afterwards, I was kinda glad it wasn't."

"?"

"'Cause it _hurt_. And there was all this blood…." He could feel tears running down her face and his chest.

"Shhh, Terra, it's okay, it's alright. I know it was bad, but that's over with. You're here, you're safe, and Slade will NEVER have you, not as long as I'm alive."

She was silent for a moment. Then, "Gar? If, if it looks like Slade's gonna get me, will you-*"

"Stop that. That won't happen, I tell you. I'll be here for you." He drew a deep, shuddering breath. "I promise to protect you, Terra. With my life, if it comes to it. I further promise, right here, right now, to love, honor, and cherish you, all the days of my life. Especially cherish."

She was silent for a time. Then, in a shaky voice, "That's..that's…" Her shoulders shook, and he realized she was crying again.

He held her. It felt so good, just to hold her, after all this time. "Shh, it's alright, Terra. Let it out. I'm here for you, and I'm gonna stay here for you. Always. Forever."

_To be continued…_


	11. Chapter 11: Friends

_Here's chapter 11. As before, I don't own any of these characters. Please read and review. Thank you all!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, Chapter 11: Friends

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Down in his "garage," actually more of a tech lab than automobile hanger, Cyborg, aka Victor Stone was busy. Being only part organic, he'd found he didn't need as much sleep as the others did. It gave him time to work on some projects that normally he simply wouldn't have had the time for. Plus, he could take advantage of this unofficial "cease fire" on the part of Jump City's various super-nasties to work on some things.

Right now, one top-priority project was the failure of his sensors to detect the probe, in orbit, and the thing on Ganymede. The entity he didn't know about; Raven swore it wasn't a threat, but she'd been wrong before about some things. Better safe than sorry.

But about the probe, he had no doubts whatsoever. It was definitely a threat. And it was practically in his living room. Way too close for comfort.

He'd recalibrated his sensors a dozen times and still couldn't really detect anything. Then he had a wild, blue-sky thought: what if it's not made of normal matter?

What would it be made of? What options were there?

Well, there was antimatter, a favorite of science fiction writers everywhere. But antimatter was still material, that is, it still had mass and so should have set _something_ off just by that alone. Besides, Green Lantern and Superman—and presumably others by now—had set foot on it, and nothing had happened. If it were made of antimatter, contact with the matter they were composed of should've resulted in complete annihilation of both them and an equal amount of mass of the probe. That hadn't happened, obviously.

There was negative matter, a theoretical substance similar to antimatter in that contact between it and normal matter resulted in the cancellation of equivalent mass, but without the fireworks of antimatter. Then there was "exotic matter," matter with negative mass, and "mirror matter," matter that had the same electromagnetic and chemical properties as normal matter, but reversed….

Trouble was, if the probe was made of anything like that, it shouldn't have much interaction with normal matter. In some cases, such as mirror matter, it shouldn't even be visible. Where could it have come from? What was it doing here? Had it come from some place where such matter was commonplace? Or…had its Builders constructed it out of some strange sort of matter for a definite purpose? What could that purpose be?

Occam's Razor: the simplest answer is usually correct. But Cyborg had a sneaking suspicion that there was nothing simple about the probe….

Breakfast, the next morning. Robin was busy shoveling pancakes into his mouth as if someone were timing him. And, Raven noted, perhaps the most wondrous thing: Starfire had cooked them, and not out of fungus, either. She herself ate a couple of waffles with maple syrup and lots of butter. How did they live, she wondered, before waffles? It must've been a harsh life.

She deliberately refrained from asking them how they felt today. They'd both virtually floated into the kitchen (in the case of Starfire, she'd _literally_ floated in), with Robin looking as relaxed as she'd ever seen him. Evidently, Starfire's "therapy" was working. She smiled, beneath her hood. A woman's touch….

Her smile disappeared. She would never know the simple joy of another's touch. She'd reconciled herself to that (she thought), but the notion of going on, as she had been, alone, was somewhat depressing. There was nobody in her life, nor would there ever be, because of who and what she was. Even though she had friends, no, _family_ around her, it just wasn't the same. She sighed. Maybe it was for the best.

Cyborg was at the stove, happily frying up bacon, ham, sausage, and any other meat he could find in the fridge, along with some eggs. He was cheerfully awaiting Beast Boy's arrival, so they could begin their usual food feud.

"Hey, everybody! Whassup!" Beast Boy and Terra came in, hand in hand. "MMmm. Something smells delicious!"

"Meat, meat, and more meat! And not a single tofu anything in sight!" Raven automatically looked towards Beast Boy. That was a challenge if ever there was one.

The newcomers sat down, and Beast Boy scratched his neck. "Terra? What sounds good to you?"

"What are you having?"

Beast Boy suddenly sat back from the table, crossing his arms, an expression of determination on his face. "You know what? I think it's time I broadened my culinary horizons somewhat. Any more waffles left?"

"Uhh, just the regular kind." Cyborg was a bit taken aback at this turn of events.

"I think I'll try some. There's plenty of syrup and butter, right?"

"Sure."

"Terra?"

"Hey, you know me: the human garbage disposal. Anything you got's fine with me."

Still not quite believing his eyes, Cyborg watched as Beast Boy—Beast Boy!—helped himself to a plate of waffles. He got some for Terra, and placed the syrup container down between them.

"Beast Boy? Do you…feel alright this morning?" Robin was puzzled by Garfield's lack of combativeness regarding dairy versus non-dairy.

"I feel fine, Rob. Just figured it was time for a change. Man does not live by tofu alone." Cyborg's jaw almost fell off when he heard that.

"Well, if you're off the non-dairy wagon, you gotta try some of these." Robin gestured to a pile of pancakes. "Try one."

"Who made 'em?"

"Just try one." Robin and Starfire exchanged winks.

"Hokay, b'leeve I will. Terra?"

"I'm up for anything." So Beast Boy put one on her plate, and one on his already syrup-soaked plate. Raven smiled, slightly. _Taking care of his lady. That's so…romantic._ Then: _There'll be no-one to take care of me…now stop that!_

"Mmm. These are delicious. _Now_ will you tell me who made 'em?"

Robin chuckled. "Starfire made them, Beast Boy. Our own interstellar chef supreme."

Beast Boy stared, blinked. "You mean Star, _our_ Star, made _these?_

"Are they..are they..adequate ?" She was practically wringing her hands in nervousness.

"Starfire, they're more than adequate, they're great! When did you learn to cook like this, anyway?"

She blushed prettily. "I, er, I have been attending some evening classes at a place called Chef Hans Culinary Academy. The teachers started us out with simple things. Things like waffles, pancakes, sausage, and the et cetera. And, and I have practiced. It was most disheartening when the juicer blew up…"

"Star, I'd say you've WAY overcome that! These are superb." Terra echoed the sentiment, and Starfire practically glowed under the praise.

"Okay, people," Cyborg set his own plate down on the table, laden with various meaty goodies, "Time for some updates. Robin, I recalibrated my sensors, and I WAS finally able to detect the probe." Robin perked up at this. "However, it was only after I'd reset 'em for exotic matter. And," here he took a huge bite of sausage, "Egghh Ahd Regghhd HUFFLEDY posddtrnnm." He paused, swallowed, saw all the expressions around him. "Ah, did anybody get that?"

"Dude. Talking with your mouth full.."

"Okay. What I was saying was, it registers HEAVILY for positronium."

"What's positronium?" asked Robin, even as Starfire dropped her spatula, her eyes wide with fear. "It is death!" They all turned to her.

"Star? You know what this posi-thingy is?" asked Beast Boy.

"Yes! And we must get rid of this, this probe! Otherwise, we will all die!"

"Calm down, Starfire. We'll alert the League to any danger; if it needs getting rid of, they're more than up to the task. Now, what's positronium, anyway?" The alien girl just shook her head and let Cyborg continue.

"First off, is everybody clear on what antimatter is? Comes in contact with good ol' matter, goes kaboom? Okay. Well, positronium is made of both matter and antimatter. One electron and one positron, the antimatter counterpart to an electron."

"I thought you just said-"

"I did. On Earth, scientists have only made a very small amount of it, and it doesn't last very long. As in 'millionths of a second' long. It basically self-destructs. But it looks like somebody Out There has found a way to make it stable. That's why the probe masses so low: a lot of it consists of basically two electrons, orbiting each other."

"What's it used for?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Nobody really has any good uses for it, yet. Nobody's made enough, in stable form, to figure out a use for it. Beyond it being a really good source of gamma rays."

"Starfire?" Robin turned his attention to her. She was still shaking, a little. "You seem familiar with this stuff. What do you know about it?"

"I have heard stories. It is concentrated death. Very unstable. If left alone, it explodes, violently. And everything nearby dies. If not right away, then soon after."

"Hm," mused Cyborg, "that sorta fits. It would emit a high proportion of gamma rays…make everything around it toasty-radioactive.

"Gamma rays…" mused Beast Boy.

"Yeah, and I don't mean the comic book type. In real life, you get hit with a dose'a gammas, you get fried as crispy as this bacon I'm about to eat," Cyborg said, even as he chowed down on his bacon. "It's not what you call a survivable situation. Even a low dose of gammas is bad. Radiation damage to the cells doesn't heal; it builds up over time. And gamma rays are about as bad as they come."

Terra had finished her pancakes and waffles, and was musingly stirring the syrup on her plate. "Hmmm. I read something about positronium once, a while back. Wish I could remember exactly what. Something about what you said, it being a good source of gamma rays. Maybe I can look it up. We got internet, right?"

"Uh, right."

Beast Boy goggled at her. "Terra? You know about this kinda stuff?"

"Sure. Science always fascinated me. I mean, I'm no egghead, can't do the math involved for much, but the basic stuff, yeah, I'm good with that."

"That's great, Terra," said Robin. "I hearby delegate you to researching positronium. And I'll call Batman and let him know what your sensors found out, Cyborg. Now. Raven? You have any news about your friend on Ganymede?"

Raven sat forward, steepling her fingers together in front of her face. This was the moment she'd been dreading. For a long moment, she was silent. Then she sighed. They did need to know. "Yes. I…communicated some more with it last night. It was concerned that it had hurt me. I reassured it that it hadn't."

"So it's not a threat?"

"Well, in terms of sheer power, it could be. But, Robin, it's basically a child, an immature being. I could tell from the, well, the tone of its voice, so to speak. Its way of speaking, although that's not accurate, since we communicated mostly by way of emotions, rather than actual words.

"I spent most of the night researching it, what it could be. It's not evil, of that I'm certain. While I'm not sure, I believe it to be an emotiphage."

"A what?"

"An emotiphage. Maybe that's the wrong word. It's a being that feeds, so to speak, on emotions, the emotions of others."

"You mean it _eats our emotions?_"

"No, not in any predatory way. It, well, it enjoys being around beings who radiate emotions. It doesn't drain you of your emotions, any more than a plant drains the sun of its energy. It just likes being around people who are having a good time, to put it in layman's terms. Basically." She wondered: should she tell Robin about the entity's killing an entire world?

But if she did, he'd alert the Justice League, and they'd definitely want it quarantined, at the very least. She couldn't see any good outcome to that.

"So is it a threat?"

"I don't believe so. It was attracted here partly because of the emotional radiation all humans emit, but mostly it was just wandering. It apparently had a…bad experience somewhere far away, one it doesn't like to think about, and I'm trying to coax it past that experience. I've made some headway." There. She'd tell Robin about the extent of the entity's deed later, if needed. Maybe it wouldn't be needed. "It's quite possible it'll just leave, eventually."

"But if we're the source of its…nourishment…"

"It doesn't _need_ emotions; it just enjoys being around them. I don't think it really has any actual _needs_, as such, at least, any we can imagine. It can also 'feed' on electromagnetic radiation—light—and other forms of energy. And that, of course, is quite plentiful."

"Man," mused Cyborg, rubbing his chin, "imagine that. Being able to feed on starlight, or cosmic energy, or anything. That'd be…awesome."

"What troubles me is, I can't find any reliable reference to just what sort of being it could be. I call it an emotiphage, but that's only what it does. That's not necessarily what it _is_."

"Is that important?"

"It could be. One encouraging thing: it doesn't fall into any known category of demon. Given that demons, as a group, are usually trouble, that's a hopeful sign."

"So what else could it be?"

"Well," Raven bit her lip, "it's not mortal, organic, of that I'm sure. Generally speaking, what we term 'angels' know that they _are_ angels. The only classification left, that we have for it, anyway, is some form of nascent god."

Cyborg mouth hung open. "You're telling me that there's a little-g god on Ganymede? Is that good or bad?"

"More likely to be good, or at least neutral, than bad. Demons seldom have any real choice in their actions; they're fueled by, and draw their strength from, negative energies. Gods seem to have more free will. But they also have more power, too. They can be good friends…or dangerous enemies. As the expression goes, _hellaciously_ dangerous. Emphasis on the 'hell.'"

Robin put his elbows on the table. "So. You're recommendation?"

"For right now? Don't rock any boats. I'll keep in touch with it, see if I can't coax it out of its shell, but, in general, I'd rather it was here than far out beyond detection range, learning who knows what, becoming who knows what. I'd rather it saw us as friends than, Azar help us, potential food sources. That last isn't entirely impossible, you know." While they were digesting _that_ particular bit of information, the alarm went off.

"Okay, people," said Robin, after a brief look at the message, "looks like a job for us. The H.I.V.E. Five are hitting a bank downtown. Let's go!"

"Terra?" Beast Boy asked her, "will you be okay here, by yourself? I'll activate the security system, so nobody can get in…"

She kissed him, her arms around his neck. "I'll be okay, Gar. Just…just take care of yourself, 'kay?" She colored, slightly. "I mean, I'd much rather be a wife than a widow."

Downtown, at the First National bank, the H.I.V.E. Five were furiously trundling bags of money out to their waiting vehicle. "Ya'll snap it up, now," said one of the Billy Numerouses, "an' savor the moment. Ever'thang's goin' cashless, these days. But we ain't!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Private H.I.V.E snapped a salute, even as he handed a money bag to Kyd Wykkyd….then _something_ happened. A simultaneous thunder, plus something else…

The T-Car pulled up. "Aw, I can't believe you guys started without me," said Cyborg, getting out of his car.

"Shazbot, it's Robocop," snarled Gizmo. "Well, I didn't forget about you, creepazoid. Here, catch!" With that, he threw something at Cyborg, even as the other Titans, curiously sans Beast Boy, arrived.

Cyborg caught it. "What, for _me_? You shouldn't have." He crushed the device, whatever it was, to powder between his steel fingers.

Gizmo stared. "What th-?" The next thing he knew, he was staring down the barrel of Cyborg's sonic cannon. "Nighty-night!" _BOOM!_

See-more, who was apparently in charge, tried to rally his team. "Fall back! Mammoth, run defense! Private, get the money! Billy, get Gizmo!"

"On it, boss! I'll just…I'll just…ACHOO!" The sudden appearance of the Titans had momentarily shocked him back into one person. "ACHOO! _ACHOO!_" He couldn't stop sneezing.

Private H.I.V.E. was busy trying to stuff the money bags into the armored car they'd stolen when he felt something cold behind him. "I thought you reformed, Private. It seems I was wrong. That distresses me." Raven's soul-self enveloped him, rendering him unconscious.

See-more was desperate. In just the space of a few minutes, everything was falling apart. Mammoth was already squaring off against Robin, but See-more really didn't have any doubts about the outcome of _that_. Sure enough, three moves later Mammoth was down. "Billy! Do something! Multiply!"

"I—I cain't, boss! _ACHOO!_ I cain't stop sneezin'-_ACHOO!_- long enough ta—_ACHOO!_"

See-more found himself facing four Titans alone. He didn't even see Kyd Wykkyd anymore. "What's it gonna be, See-more?" asked Robin, "Easy or hard?" Faced with the inevitable, See-more wordlessly surrendered.

Once the control collars were emplaced, Robin motioned to the police captain. "I need a moment with Billy Numerous." The captain nodded and motioned to his men.

Robin faced Numerous, now only semi-conscious from the effect of the collar. "Okay, Beast Boy, you can come out now." A thin trickle of green oozed out of Billy's nose. It quickly transformed into Beast Boy. "Ha! They say it's a super power, but it's SNOT!" Beast Boy broke up laughing at his own joke. Robin just groaned.

Their plan had worked almost perfectly: focused EMP to take out Gizmo's devices, Beast Boy "infecting" Billy Numerous to keep him from multiplying, and the rest went down one by one. The only flaw in the plan was that Kyd Wykkyd got away. That didn't surprise Robin; the Five had probably planned it that way so Wykkyd could break them out of jail should worse come to worst. They'd have to alert the police.

"Robin?" One of the policemen tapped him on the shoulder. "They had some people tied up in there. One of 'em wants to say thanks." Robin acknowledged with a sharp tilt of his head. He really didn't like being tapped on the shoulder.

He walked over to where the former prisoners were, his cape around him, and received a shock. Except for her outfit—a rather smart school uniform-one of them was a dead ringer for Terra!

"Uh, Robin, is it? I just wanted to say thank you for rescuing me. Us, I mean," she corrected herself hastily.

"You're quite welcome, miss. Just doing our job."

She seemed to wrestle with herself for a moment, then, "Is, uhm, is Beast Boy with you?" There was an odd undertone to her voice…

"Yes, he is. Do you want to see him?"

"Please."

"Yo, Beast Boy! Over here!" He waved his arm.

Beast Boy hastened over, stepping lightly over some rubble in the street. "Whassup, Rob? Find Kyd—" And stopped dead in his tracks. "You!"

The girl smiled. Robin thought it looked somewhat forced. "Yeah, me, again. I, I just wanted to say thanks for the rescue. And, uh, sorry I ran out on you the other day."

"That's perfectly alright. I'm sorry I scared you. It's just, you look so much like someone else, Miss, uh…"

"Tara. My name's Tara." She stuck out her hand for a handshake. Beast Boy, however, being Beast Boy, did a courtly bow and flourish, kissing the back of her hand. The girl blushed a deep crimson all over her face. From her actions, she seemed to've totally forgotten Robin was standing there. "Well, uhm, maybe, maybe I'll uh see you around?" Was that sweat on her forehead from the heat? Or something else?

"It's possible. Well, I don't mean to run, but I think it's my turn to pull escort duty, get these guys back to their home away from home. Uhm, take care, okay?"

"I will. You, too."

Beast Boy turned and walked away, with Robin keeping pace. "Hey, Rob," he whispered, "what're the odds? I mean, she looks like Terra, sounds like Terra," he glanced over his shoulder, "she even walks like Terra. And her first name is almost a sound-alike for Terra. Is that weird, or what?"

"That's pretty weird, Beast Boy." The Boy Wonder rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, that's pretty weird, indeed."

_To be continued_


	12. Chapter 12: Bedtime

_Chapter 12. Maybe a bit of AU here…I'll roll with it. As before, I don't own, etc. Please read and review!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 12: Bedtime

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

The being on Ganymede waited patiently for the one known as _Raven_ to communicate with it. It understood that there were times when she (and what did _that_ designation mean, anyway? It made a mental note to itself to ask) could talk and times when she could not. In the meantime, it scanned the surrounding space with senses humans didn't even have names for. It noted that there was a nice source of emotions coming from one part of the night sky; maybe it would visit there sometime. But for now, it waited for its _friend._

_Friends_ were _important._

_{{Are you there?}}_

_{{__**Yes! I am here! And you are there! How are you, my friend?**__}}_

_{{I am alright. Everything is fine, here.}}_ But it sensed her wincing, as she moved.

_{{__**What is wrong?**__}}_

_{{It is only a bruise. I fell, a while back. It has yet to fully heal. But it will. Now…}}_

_{{__**What is a bruise?**__}}_

_{{A…contusion. A place where the blood vessels beneath my skin were broken. It is nothing. It will heal, given time.}}_

_{{__**You are INJURED?!**__}}_

_{{Yes, but it is noth-*}}_ Suddenly Raven was aware of _something_ happening, something completely indescribable. She looked at her arm, on which she'd fallen some time before, battling Killer Moth's mutant moths. The bruise was gone, as if it had never been. There wasn't even any trace of soreness or stiffness in her arm anymore. Wonderingly, she flexed her arm a few times. _{{Did you…did you do…that?}}_

_{{__**Yes.**__}}_ It paused, childlike timidity evident in it's "voice." _{{__**Did I do a good thing?**__}}_ She could sense the entity's desperate desire to please her.

_{{Yes, you did a good thing. I just did not expect it, is all. Evidently, you have the capability to act over a considerable distance. Er, how did you do that, anyway?}}_ They'd progressed to the point where telepathy was possible, but some concepts were still difficult to get across.

_{{__**There was…a wrongness. I corrected it.**__}}_ The image that came into Raven's mind was not clear, but her mind automatically translated it into a child with building blocks, where one block was off-center, and the child simply straightening it.

_{{Well, thank you. Now, I-*}}_

_{{__**What does that mean?**__}}_ And so on.

Beast Boy and Terra were preparing for bed. As before, they were in his room; there was an unspoken agreement between them: she was welcome here for as long as she wished.

Terra was already under the sheets, waiting for Beast Boy to come out of the bathroom, where he was brushing his teeth. It was amazing, she mused, on how _free_ she felt around him. With Slade, it had been very different. There, everything was done on _his_ schedule, to _his_ satisfaction, for _him._ But with Garfield, it was….so wonderfully different. She wasn't orbiting around _him_; they were both in this together. Neither of them was over the other; they were best friends _and_ lovers.

Out of deference to him, she'd worn panties this time. Normally, she didn't, but last time, during the night, her sleep shirt had somehow crept up while she was sleeping, so that her essentially naked body had ended up pressed up against him, spoon-fashioned, her butt nestled into the natural hollow of his groin. He hadn't wanted to wake her and he'd never said anything about it, but she could tell he was tremendously aroused, partly by the feel of the bulge in his sleep pants, but also by the way he'd shot into the bathroom at the first chance he got.

She sighed. It was actually a good sign, of course; what if her skinny body _didn't_ turn him on? Wouldn't_ that_ be a buzzkill! But, deep inside, part of her longed for the day when she could discard the sleep shirt altogether and just devote herself to satisfying him _fully._ And, yes, herself, too. She wished he wouldn't be so embarrassed about getting an erection; it was, after all, perfectly normal; in point of fact, it actually gratified her to know that she _did_ arouse him so. But, both of them being young, she realized embarrassment was part of the package.

Like I'm one to talk, she told herself. She was the very one who'd hastened to change the sheets while he was out that day, due to some….awkward moisture on her part. And now she wore pads; just being this close to him, and under these circumstances, got her so wet…

The rational part of her mind was fully cognizant of the frustration inherent in this arrangement: if they were going to make love, then, yes, sleeping together in the same bed was the sound thing to do. But if not, it just aroused them _both,_ and to no result. But she just so enjoyed being so near to him, being this intimate with him, that, even without sex, the _emotional_ closeness was still great. She'd never had that, never even imagined it was possible, before.

(Besides, she guiltily acknowledged, in the privacy of her own mind, a couple of times, when he'd really been fast asleep, she'd lightly rubbed up against him, just enough to, to…_really_ enjoy it.)

She was also coming to realize that Garfield Logan, aka, Beast Boy, was one of a vanishing breed: he was a virgin. Naturally, the culture being what it was, he tended to avoid that subject, pretending to be more experienced than he was, but she could tell. She only wished she were still one, so that their First Time Together would also be hers, but it was just not to be. Perhaps it was just as well; she still had bad memories about her first time with Slade. That hadn't been pleasant, really, for either of them. He hadn't forced her, or even suggested it, really. It had just kinda…happened, but he certainly hadn't been very patient with her afterwards, telling her it was perfectly normal, that she'd have had to go through it anyway, sooner or later, and to get over it and get control of herself. To Slade, control was everything.

(But, dammit, when you're a _fifteen-year old girl_, and you've just been _torn,_ for god's sakes, and you're _bleeding_ from _down there_, to be told to "get over it" is just the wrong thing to say. In _any_body's book.

Beast Boy would NEVER have done that, she told herself.)

Slade and Terra hadn't _made love,_ or even _had sex_, exactly. To Terra's way of thinking about it, there was only one term to cover what had happened: they had _fucked_. No emotional element whatsoever had been involved, on either of their parts. Of course, now, in the distant aftermath, Terra had to admit that Slade had fucked her mind far worse than he had her body….

She shook her head to clear it. That was all yesterday, and yesterday was history. The only thing you could do with history was learn from it.

Her introspection was interrupted when he came out of the bathroom and slid into bed beside her. "Hey, Terra. You don't happen to have any, like, relatives about your age in this area, do you?"

She was puzzled. "No. I have a brother, well, actually a half-brother, but he's the only person I know even close to my own age I'm related to. Why?"

"I ran into that girl again today. She was one of the hostages the Five had taken prisoner. Even Robin commented on how close the resemblance is. And get this: her first name's Tara. I mean, is that weird or what? So I was wondering if maybe you had a sister or a cousin or something."

"Nope. No sisters at all. At least none that I know of. That is odd, though…her name's almost the same as mine. What's her last name?"

"I didn't think to ask. The police were ready to take the Five off, and I was stuck with babysitting duty, so I couldn't stay and talk." He slid down under the sheets with her, and she snuggled up against him. It felt _so_ good. _He_ felt so good. "Wasn't too sorry, though. I kinda got this peculiar vibe off her. Can't explain it."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Dunno. Have you ever had somebody try to tell you something, or get some message across, and somehow you just weren't getting it? It was like that. Like she was trying to say something without actually saying it."

"Hmmm." She pondered a moment, running her fingers across his chest. "Maybe she wanted to ask you out."

"Ha! Doubt that. You should'a seen her the other day in the Mall, when I thought she was you. She couldn't get away fast enough. And even if it is that, well, she's outta luck. I'm off the market." He pulled her up and kissed her. "Yep, most definitely off the market."

She smiled, and settled in, nestling her arms around him, her head against his chest, the golden glory of her hair spreading out over their mutual pillow. They often fell asleep intertwined like that. She kissed his chest. "Better believe it, boyfriend."

_{{…and that is why there is a distinction between males and females of my species. Do you understand now?}}_

_{{__**…Not really. But I accept the fact that there is a difference. It will suffice. To be honest, it all sounds overly complicated to me. I am glad I do not have to deal with it personally.**__}}_

_{{Well, perhaps. There are many facets of the interdependability of the two sexes that I am not all that familiar with, myself, anyway. And perhaps our culture makes it more complicated than it really needs to be.}}_

_{{__**I am not qualified to say one way or the other about that. I am more interested in you. I sense a…void within you. It causes you pain.**__}}_

Holy Azar. Could the being sense that much about her, across this distance? But then, evidently, time and space meant nothing to it… _{{That is a personal matter. It is what we humans call a "long story." Suffice it for now to say that I have difficulty interacting with other humans, and, in fact, had a…rather bad experience of my own not long ago that I suppose I've yet to fully overcome.}}_

_{{__**What happened? If you don't mind my asking, that is.**__}}_

Raven sighed. She was trying to be as open with the being as possible, and, honestly, it wasn't as difficult as she'd thought. It was different with the entity; she didn't feel as though she was being judged or found wanting, or something. The entity was _alien_, in a way she'd never encountered. It was actually rather liberating, in a way. She didn't feel any need to be anything other than herself. _{{There was an evil sorcerer named Malchior, a dragon, actually—you remember, I told you about dragons—who pretended to care about me as a person. But it was only a lie; all he cared about was getting out of the trap he was in. He used me and betrayed me, yes, but I suppose I allowed it to happen….Anyway, he is back inside the trap I found him in. And the trap is under lock and key.}}_

For a long time, it was silent. Then, _{{__**You are hurting. You are still hurting.**__}}_

She hesitated briefly. Then, _{{Yes, but this sort of thing happens to many people. Not just me.}}_

Again a long pause. Then, _{{__**Raven? May I sing for you?**__}}_

Puzzled, she replied, _{{If—if you so wish. I am about to go to sleep, however…}}_

_{{__**That will not matter. It will only take what you call a moment. I would really like to sing for you, if you don't mind.**__}}_

_{{Very well.}}_ Raven drew on her gown, and lay down on her bed, calming her mind, stilling her spirit…

…And a wordless _something_ filled her head, something she couldn't really call music (at least, as humans understood it), but an interplay of emotions going up and down the spectrum, emotions of being alone, then of finding someone to be with, only to lose them, then finding someone else, and the joy that came from that simple communication, the wonder of learning about a new friend, someone to care for, to, to, yes, to _love…_

Raven found herself weeping soundlessly, the emotional roller coaster ride, though gentle enough, expressing all the hurt and anguish she'd felt, but with an ending of untainted happiness at having found someone who cared, and for whom it could care, even love. _{{Thank you,}}_ was all she could say.

_{{__**You are very welcome. Now rest. Sleep. I will watch over you, to ensure that no harm befalls you.**__}}_ And Raven immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

"…say this thing's made of _positronium_?" There was a note of incredulity in Green Lantern's voice.

"Not 'made of,' but apparently it does contain a large amount of it." Batman, as always, was precise and matter-of-fact. "The stabilization method isn't clear, but it's not something we want to meddle with. It's the next worst thing to antimatter itself. In fact, in a way, it's actually worse. You could leave antimatter alone. Positronium won't leave itself alone."

"So what's it doing here?"

"I see only two possibilities: one, it drifted here, off course. Two," and here the Dark Knight's eyes narrowed, "it was summoned here."

"By whom?"

"By whomever would be most benefited by its presence, the presence of such a large, potentially dangerous artifact. Unfortunately, that's a long list." He drew a deep breath, standing in the control room of the Watchtower, gazing up at the screens displaying the probe. "No matter how you look at it, it's dangerous, and we need to get rid of it. The sooner, the better."

"Any ideas on how we do that? My ring can't affect it."

"The old fashioned way: we mount thrusters on it and send it off into space. Or at least send it somewhere in the solar system where it won't be a threat to Earth or Mars. Possibly the Oort cloud…we could study it there, in relative safety."

J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter, had been listening into the conversation. Now he spoke up for the first time. "I am not certain even that would be far enough, Batman. If the positronium detonates, the expanding cloud of gamma radiation would be… tremendous."

"Have you a better suggestion?"

"Yes. Put it behind—relative to Earth—one of the gas giants in the solar system. Jupiter should suffice."

"What about on the other side of the sun?"

"That much positronium, producing that much gamma radiation, could easily have disastrous side effects on the sun." Batman's eyes widened somewhat. This, from a man who once called the death of a world "significant." "Plus, it would require less energy to move it, as Jupiter is currently in alignment with Earth."

"Then it's agreed. Atom, are you listening? What's your take on this?"

"The same as John's. Whoever built this thing, they weren't a peace-loving folk, Batman. I look at it and all I see is one big weapon."

"You think it's a doomsday device?"

"I get the impression it goes beyond that. This thing was built for a _purpose_, Bruce, and I don't think it was to sell us Girl Scout cookies."

"Very well then. We'll commence with the rocket booster emplacement immediately."

Back in his lair, Slade watched the scenario unfold. He wasn't privy to the conversation that had just taken place, but he could make an educated guess: the Justice League intended to move the probe. He hadn't finished collecting the data from it, let alone been able to cannibalize it for any useful mechanisms. So that just wouldn't do. No, that wouldn't do at all. He activated his secure communications link and issued some instructions…..

Onboard the Justice League's orbiting space station, a nondescript man pulled out a perfectly standard cell phone, and listened. Listened for a long time. Then, "A-okay. Got it." He closed the cell.

"Who was that?" his buddy asked.

"Ah, nothing big. I've got my kid for this weekend, and we're setting up a time and a place. Had to make sure I wasn't on duty, y'see. Wouldn't do to bring her up here."

"Oh, I getcha. Yeah, well, hope it's a good weekend."

"Oughtta be. I get off at, what? Ten? So, yeah, we'll have the whole weekend. Go fishing, you know."

"Hey, catch one for me." His partner winked, and gave him the "thumbs up" sign.

The bomb went off at exactly 10:30, between shifts. Three people were caught in the explosion and killed outright. The bomb breached the Watchtower's hull; twenty more people were sucked outside into space and died in the space of about twelve minutes. Coincidently, not only were communications disrupted, but the plans to mount the rocket boosters on the probe were scrambled.

Batman had, of course, made backups of said plans for just this very eventuality.

Down on Earth, Slade watched the news feed and pondered. In his own way, he regretted the loss of life, but coldly acknowledged the necessity. However, he realized he'd have to make his move and _soon._

_To be continued_


	13. Chapter 13: Convergence And a Name

_Chapter 13: Good thing I'm not superstitious (crosses fingers)! Here's the latest in "Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending." I'm really enjoying where this is taking me…I don't always know what I'm gonna write until it's on my computer screen. How did we ever survive without computers?_

_As before, I don't own, you know the rest. I'm probably having more fun than is legally allowed, but I don't care._

_I will say this: The entity is one of my own creation. There will be a few of those in upcoming chapters. Hope you like 'em! Please read and review._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 13: Convergence. And a Name.

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Breakfast at Titans' Tower: Robin had just filled everyone in on the disaster at the Watchtower. There was no question that it was a bomb, a deliberate attempt at sabotage. The only question was: who?

"Slade," said Robin, narrowing his eyes in a way his mentor would have found familiar. "It's gotta be."

"But why? What possible connection could Slade have with this thing, anyway?" Cyborg just didn't see it.

"I don't know. But I'm gonna find out."

"No, you are not," said a soft voice behind him. Starfire put her arms around him from behind, her clean feminine scent washing over him. "If it is Slade, we will know soon enough. But as for now, as you yourself have said, it is the Justice League's affair. If you interfere, you would be doing the stepping on of toes."

He deflated visibly. She was right; there was nothing to link Slade with the probe or the explosion. It was more probable that the bomb had been set off by some other enemy of the League's, such as the Secret Society. Still, he couldn't shake the _feeling_ that Slade was behind it. But what could he possibly get out of a large alien probe in orbit around Earth? What?

"Well, anyway. Anyone else have any updates on anything? Terra? Did you find out about positronium?"

Terra sat back, crossing her arms and looking grim. "Yes. I knew I'd seen something about it on the net a while back. Cyborg," she asked, "can your sensors determine what state the positronium is in?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Can you tell if the atoms are all in the same quantum state?"

"No. I can barely register them at all, what with all the exotic matter in the way. Why? Is it important?"

"Very. You see, there's this thing called a Bose-Einstein Condensate, BEC for short. It's basically a state where all the atoms in a given substance are, well, vibrating in unison. With normal matter, it usually takes extremely low temperatures to accomplish this—like a few degrees above absolute zero. But with positronium, it can be reached at much higher temperatures."

Cyborg leaned on the table, fascinated. "So what's the significance of their quantum state?"

"If all the atoms are vibrating in unison, and the stabilization effect collapses, then they'll emit gamma radiation. All in one frequency. In the form of a laser beam. A gamma ray laser."

"That doesn't sound all that bad…."

"It compares to a regular laser sorta the same way a nuclear explosion compares to a chemical explosion. And there's what, tons of the stuff on board the probe?"

Cyborg gave a low whistle. "Holy Mother. That can't be good."

"No. And the thing's practically in our back yard. Now, mind you, that's only what _could_ happen. I'm not saying it _will_, or even that that's what it's _supposed_ to do. Only what it _could_ do."

Robin was pale. "That's enough, though. I'll definitely call Batman and let him know. Anybody else? Say, where's Raven? She's usually not one to miss breakfast."

"I'm here." Raven came in, dressed in her usual blue robe, with her hood up. She seemed….subdued, at least to Robin's senses.

"Raven? Are you alright?"

"Yes." She helped herself to two waffles, buttered them well, and waited for the syrup to warm up in the microwave. "I just…overslept, is all."

"Any news from our friend on Ganymede?"

"Yes." She stood with her back to the rest of them, and poured the hot syrup over her waffles, letting it melt the butter, smearing it with her table knife. "I was up rather late, talking to it. It's…it's making a lot of progress." She sat down at the table and began to eat, unmindful of the looks she was getting.

Beast Boy spoke up first. "Raven? Have…have you been _crying_?"

Raven hesitated, then nodded. "Some. But not in a negative way. The entity's growing by leaps and bounds…when I first contacted it, I would have guessed its emotional age at about four or five. Now, it's about fourteen to maybe low seventeen. It's learning from me, and…." She paused for a long moment, closing her eyes. Then, "I'm learning from it. I…..didn't anticipate that."

"Is it _hurting_ you?" There was genuine alarm in Beast Boy's voice.

Raven smiled. "No, Gar. Just the opposite, actually. We've both had some bad experiences, and it, well, it's trying to help _me_, oddly enough."

Terra nodded. "I think I understand." She warily stroked Raven's arm. "Sometimes, you gotta let some things out?"

"Yes. And it turns out, I've a few things I haven't let out, yet. But we're both getting there."

Robin clasped his hands together. "Any idea on just what it is?"

"None. There may not even be a classification for this type of being. It may be something totally new. I know _it_ doesn't know what it is. As to where it came from…well, I've a theory or two, but nothing to back them up. Just guessing, really. But I think it predates the formation of the universe, the big bang itself. It was, I think, attracted here—'here' being the entire universe—by the light emitted from that first primal explosion."

Cyborg was stunned. "Something _older_ than the _universe_? How's that even possible?"

"Well, you know the universe has a definite boundary, right? It's a long ways out there, but it's there, right? So imagine this: you build a very fast starship, go out to the very edge of creation, so that it's only a few inches in front of you. Now you stick your arm out. What's your arm in?"

Beast Boy grasped the side of his head. "I think I just blew a brain cell. So you're saying this thing comes from _outside the universe_?" Terra, however, just nodded.

"It's only a theory, mind you, but it fits the facts. The being isn't bound by time or space—apparently, those are concepts that apply only to us. Nor is it bound by the normal rules regarding matter or energy. But we do have one thing in common: it feels _emotions_. Last night," here she hesitated for a moment, "last night, it sensed my, my pain, the pain that Malchior had caused me. It sought to soothe me, to make the pain go away. And it did. Some."

"Well," said Robin thoughtfully, "it really doesn't sound like a threat. Is there some reason it has to stay on Ganymede?"

Raven was startled. "No, I don't think so. It just chose Ganymede more or less at random. Why, what are you thinking?"

"If it's not a threat, and it wants to help, it could come here, couldn't it? Wouldn't that make it easier for you to communicate with it?"

"I—I…"

_{{__**Raven, my friend.**__}}_

"It's here," she whispered….

_{{__**Would it please you and your friends if I were physically present with you?**__}}_

"Raven? Are you in communication with it now?"

_{{Yes, it would please me. And my friends. Would it please you?}}_

{{**Then I am here.**}} There was a soundless flash, and, suddenly, at the far end of the table, there floated a ten-foot night-black sphere of…of…_something_. The assembled Titans found they couldn't really _see_ it; something about it caused their minds to slide off of it, so that they couldn't really build any mental picture of it.

"Oh. My. God." Terra was entranced. Beast Boy kept trying to focus on it, but his eyes refused to do so. Cyborg was busy making some hurried adjustments to his bionic eye—to no avail.

Robin strode up to it, Starfire right behind him. "Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Robin, and this is Starfire. I'm told you don't have a name?"

{{**No.**}} The words formed in his head, even as they had for Raven. {{**I have never needed one. But I see names are important to you. What would you like to call me?**}}

"Well, we perceive you as a great black orb in front of us….would you mind being called Orb?"

{{**Not at all. I am Orb. You are Robin, and Starfire, and Beast Boy, and Terra, and Raven, and Cyborg. And I am Orb. After untold millennia, I have a means of self-designation. I am Orb.**}}

_To be continued_


	14. Chapter 14: Quality Time

_Coming up on chapter 14 of "Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending," my collaboration with Oobluebubbles. The names for Tara's friends just kinda came to me; hope I haven't infringed on anyone else's story; if so, please accept my heartfelt apology. _

_Hope everybody enjoys this chapter; things are about to start getting….interesting. As before, I don't own, etc. Please read and review, and thanks!_

Chapter 14: Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending: Quality Time

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

"Tara, have you done your homework?"

"Yes, mom. Just now finished it." Tara closed her books and looked up at her mother. "Would it be okay if I went out with some friends of mine, later?"

Her mother, blond like her daughter, smiled. "Yes, dear. Just don't be out too late. Your father nearly had a heart attack last time, when you were at the bank and those awful people attacked. We know that wasn't your fault or anything, but he worries about you. So do I, sometimes."

Tara smiled in return. "Well, it _really_ wasn't my idea for them to try to rob my own bank. But it was the closest ATM to our house…and ATM fees are on the moon."

"Just the same. If the Titans hadn't been there…." Her voice broke.

"It's alright, mom." Tara hugged her mother, comforting her. "They _were_ there, and everything's cool now. Those weirdos are in prison. They won't be bothering us anymore, at least not for a while."

"Well, anyway. Are you planning on seeing a movie with your friends?"

"Yes, ma'am. _Wicked Scary 4_ just came out; Ashley, Madison, and I thought we'd take it in. Why?"

Her mother cast a sly glance at her daughter. "So. No _boy_ has asked you out?"

Tara sighed. Actually, several had, but she just wasn't interested. How could she explain to her mother that her heart belonged to a certain green skinned superhero? How could _any_ ordinary boy compete with that? "Greg asked me last week. But I dunno. He's nice, but, well….I don't want to lead him on or anything."

Her mother ruffled her hair. "Honey, I worry about you sometimes. It's normal for girls your age to be dating, but you don't seem interested. Is—is something wrong?"

"No, mom, nothing's wrong."

"You know you can tell me anything." She paused. "It's not like….you're not, I mean, like, attracted to other girls, are you?"

Tara blushed, laughing. "Oh, no, mom, it's nothing like that." Now it was her turn to pause. "There is this one guy. But he totally lives on a different planet, you know? And, and, I don't know how to, to, well. You know."

"Is he nice? What's he like?"

Tara blushed. "Well, he's super nice. Yeah, super nice is a good way of putting it. But he just doesn't seem interested." How could she explain? She didn't really understand it fully herself.

"Well, we _do_ live in the 21st century. You could ask _him_ out, you know. The world wouldn't fall apart." Her mother smiled. "Though I can't swear about your father…"

"Who's swearing? Hey, no swearing in this house. You wanna swear, go outside." Her father had just come in from work.

"Daddy!" She ran to him and hugged him. He always smelled so great, coming home from work like this…

"Yep, that's me. How's my little princess? How was school?"

"Still there. Though the chem class keeps trying."

"So who's this young man you're interested in now?

Oh, gosh. Now she was in for it. "It's nothing, dad. Just some guy I kinda like, but he doesn't even know I'm alive. Well, yeah, he knows I'm alive, but you know what I mean."

"So bump into him sometime. Literally. Spill his notebooks for him. That's how I met your mother." Tara's mother laughed, hearing that.

Tara smiled. Here was her way out. "I might just do that. Advice from the maestro…" Her father laughed and rumpled her hair still more. But it gave her an out…

_The being—now known as Orb-knew a special kind of joy. Its friends, the _Teen Titans-_so much to learn about just that designation!-had assigned it a room there in "Titan's Tower." Being based on a generic human design, the room had a bed (for which it had no need), a desk (again, no need) and a _"Tee Vee,"_ as they called it, for which it had a great deal of need. Apparently, the _Tee Vee_ functioned as a means of communication between humans._

_It didn't really understand why each person needed their own personal room, but it accepted that. It would have been, what was the expression? _"Tickled pink"_ to've shared the room with its friend, Raven. But apparently things were not done that way, and that was fine with it. It at least was here, in the same place, as its friend._

_The leader, the one called Robin, was speaking. _"Orb, is this okay with you? Is there anything you need, that we can get for you?"

{{**This is fine, Robin. It is really more than I actually need. I have no needs, as such. I hope my presence here is…**}} It fumbled for a phrase. {{**Okay with you? I am not causing you any problems?**}}

"No, no, you aren't causing us any problems at all. However, I must tell you of a human need, something called 'privacy'…."

{{**I am somewhat familiar with the term, as it is used here, with you. I will not be going into others' rooms, unannounced, and I know to keep from going into the place called 'the bathroom.' It is not something I have any need for, anyway.**

**My physical being will remain here in this room, unless you wish me to go elsewhere, or there should be some other compelling cause or need. Should you need or desire to contact or converse with me, I will be here. But I am curious about this 'City' in which you live. Might I not sometime explore it? Would that be okay?**}}

"Well, for right now, let's just stay here, okay? We'll arrange to show you the city sometime, but if you were to appear anywhere in the city right now, you'd probably freak someone out."

{{**?**}}

"What I mean is, you'd cause someone distress. We have to prepare both you and the people you'd encounter for such. Understand?"

{{**Yes. I may explore with my senses, may I not? But I will not appear anywhere else but here, for now.**}}

"That's great, Orb. Just perfect. I only wish _all_ aliens that come here were as well mannered as you—ow!" Starfire had punched him, albeit lightly, in the arm. "Present company excluded, of course," he said, pointedly.

They filed out of the room, Raven lingering a moment. "Orb? Will you be okay, here, by yourself?"

{{**But I am not by myself, Raven. You are here. Your friends, my newfound friends, are here. Why would I not be okay?**}}

Raven shrugged. The Orb made a note of the gesture, wondering what it meant. "It's a human thing, I suppose. You were much more alone, on Ganymede, than you are in this room. But, as a friend, I suppose I worry about you."

{{**It is not just a human thing. I worry about you.**}}

"You—you do? Why? What about?"

{{**You are unhappy. This Malchior hurt you more deeply than you admit. But the ongoing hurt has little to nothing to do with him. Does it?**}}

Dammit, when did a form of life so totally alien to man get this, this _perceptive_? "Well, you….are right, I suppose." She sighed and half-turned away. "I see Robin and Starfire, and Beast Boy and Terra, and I wish I had something like what they have. And I don't. Nor do I think I will ever have that, that special someone in my life."

{{**Why not?**}}

Raven sighed again. This could go on for a while. "It's complicated, Orb. Maybe tomorrow I can explain it to you better, but for right now, I have some things I have to do. I will not be in the Tower, or in communication with you, for a while. Unless you need me, I mean. I have to go on what's called 'patrol' with the others. Terra will be here, in the Tower, but I will not. Will you be okay with that?"

{{**Yes, of course. Perhaps someday I may accompany you on this 'patrol'. It sounds like fun.**}}

"Not exactly. But we'll see. Well, bye for now. I will check in on you when I return."

{{**I will be here. And, Raven?**}}

"Yes, Orb?"

{{**Please tell the one called 'Terra' that she does not have to worry. I will not let anything happen to her. Or any of you.**}}

Raven was taken aback. She hadn't really thought about Terra, all alone here in the Tower, powerless should Slade—or anyone-attack. "Uhm, I will tell her. And thank you." With that, she left.

"So, Tara, I hear you had some excitement in your life the other day."

Tara ducked her head and groaned. "Please. I could use a little less such excitement."

"Did you get to meet him?" Ashley was irrepressible.

"Meet who?"

"Don't play innocent with me. You know who. Did you?"

Tara sighed, looking down at her tray. She was sitting with her two best friends in the lunchroom of Makamura High, but had barely touched her food. She just didn't have any appetite. Then, "Yes, I did. Happy now?" She hadn't told them about the meeting in the mall not long ago.

"What'd he say, what's he like?"

"Well, he's green, he changes shape, and he fights crime. That's pretty much all I know."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Oh, come _on._ You _must've_ gotten some more than that. Is he nice, or….."

Tara rolled her own eyes. This had "long day" written all over it. "Yes, he's nice. He's very polite. He even kissed the back of my hand, just like in the old movies." There. That oughtta keep 'em going.

Ashley goggled at her. "He _kissed_ the _back_ of your _hand_?"

"That's what I said."

"He _kissed_ the _back_ of your _hand_?"

"How many times are you gonna repeat that?"

"But—but, Tara, you actually got some, well, some lip action goin' there! Yeah, maybe not as good as lip on li-*"

"Look, do we really have to go over it? The whole thing was a nightmare. I mean, those freaks busting in, tying us all up, and, and—"

"And getting _rescued_ by the boy of your _dreams_! How many times does _that_ happen to people? Tara! Did you at least give him your cell number?"

"_No._ It wasn't that kind of a situation, I tell you! Besides, he was busy, he had to take those robbers to jail…"

"Now don't tell me you wimped out."

"_There wasn't time._ He was on duty! Now, if we're done here, I've got a class to go to."

"Oh, pooh. _You're_ no fun. I wish _I'd_ been there. _I'd_ have _seriously_ sucked some face."

"You'd a' gone for Cyborg, though. Computers are _your_ thing."

"So? Hunky man AND funky machine, all in one! Can't beat that!"

I_ could've,_ thought Tara, _and I oh so wanted to. Just grab him by those elfin ears and kiss those wonderful green lips till he was semiconscious. And I would'a enjoyed EVERY minute of it. I wonder, _she mused, _would that count as full frontal facial rape? Hope not! Or should that be, hope so? Gah! Too much to think about._

_And that's only what I would'a done in public. In private….I wonder how hard it is to get that uniform of his off of him, anyway?_

Back at the Tower, the Orb felt about with its senses. The other Titans had left to go on the "patrol" (oh, how it longed to be able to do that with them! But for now…), but had left the one known as "Terra" behind. The Orb sensed her sitting at a computer terminal, researching positronium. It knew about positronium, of course, although it had only recently acquired a word for it. It knew about the probe, the machine, overhead, in orbit around the Earth. It knew its purpose, and prepared itself to take steps when the time was right.

At one point, Terra had left off researching positronium and was conducting a web search (such a fascinating thing! A place where so much knowledge waited for the taking! It would have to connect to this "internet" and see all there was to see, for itself, but for now it would wait) and searched for the whereabouts of an entity called "Slade." The Orb could sense her levels of anxiety increase considerably when she found the information on him. Evidently, she was deeply afraid of him, and felt powerless against him. She felt…it searched its mind for the term…_vulnerable_ to him. That he could hurt her in some way, or hurt the ones she loved.

It started to communicate with her, to tell her she had nothing to fear, that it would protect her, but paused. Humans, it seemed, were not completely comfortable with the notion that it could sense them, _see_ them, as they put it, when it was not physically present. So it refrained from doing so.

Now it sensed her leaving the computer terminal and going to the room she shared with the one called Beast Boy. She straightened the room up some, dusted the desk and table. She had already moved most of her clothes into his closet; her own room was virtually bare now.

To the Orb, this was how it should be. Terra loved Beast Boy; she should be with Beast Boy, even as it loved the Titans and was now with them. But there was an element of her love for Beast Boy that was different than the love it shared for all its new friends, an element it couldn't comprehend. Raven had tried to explain it only a few hours ago, but it still didn't really understand. Perhaps in time it would.

Now she left the room she shared with Beast Boy and wandered down towards what the one called _Robin_ had called the "Tee Vee room." Her path took her right by the room they had designated for the Orb. She knocked lightly on the door. "Orb? Are you alright in there? Can I get you something?"

{{**I am alright, Terra. I do not need anything. Do you wish to talk?**}}

"No, I was just passing by. Thought I'd check on you, see how you were," she started to say 'how you were hanging,' but corrected herself in mid-sentence, "doing. That's all."

{{**I am doing well. It is a marvelous feeling, to have friends so close by. Do you not think so?**}}

"Yeah, Orb. I hear ya." She sighed, and half-turned to go. "Well, I'll be…"

{{**Terra? Are you afraid?**}}

She looked startled. "No, Orb, I'm…..no, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid. I guess I am afraid. Somewhat."

{{**Are you afraid of me?**}}

She bit her lip. "Not…..really. Yeah, I mean, you're….an unknown life form. Here on Earth, we have lots of stories, fictional stories, about alien or unknown life forms eating us or something. It's kinda hard to overcome. But talking to you helps."

{{**Why do you have such stories?**}}

Terra stared. "You know, that's a pretty good question. I guess, the best answer is, we like feeling fear when we know it's fake. But only then. Any other time, we don't like to be afraid, because that means something's out to get us." She paused. "I can't really explain it any better than that." Unconsciously, she had stepped further into the room.

{{**Would it help if I told you that you have no need to be afraid of me?**}}

She smiled. "Thank you, Orb. Yeah, it helps a little. It's not like I'm, you know, really terrified of you anyway…"

{{**Like the creature from 'Wicked Scary 3.5'?**}}

She stared again. "How do you know about that? Are—are you reading my mind?"

{{**Not really. Not in the sense I think you mean. But as you speak, you radiate thoughts. I detect those, and am learning to decipher them, so as to better communicate with you. I do not…see anything other than what you are talking about. But you spoke of fear. When you did, I received the image of the one you call 'Slade.' You are extremely afraid of him.**}}

"Yeah, Orb. I am. He's…bad. Very bad. I'm afraid he'd hurt me, again."

{{**You are fearful that he would thrust a part of his body into yours. Against your wishes.**}}

Gad. How'd this conversation get this deep, so suddenly? But, she realized, the fear the Orb was talking about had been uppermost on her mind for some time now. "Yeah, Orb. We call it 'rape,' and, yeah, it's something to be afraid of. Especially since, well, since I defied him and turned against him. I feel like he'd….want to hurt me in the worst way he could." Her voice sunk to a whisper. "I'd rather he kill me than do…that."

{{**He will do neither of those things to you.**}}

"What? How do you know?"

{{**Because I would not let him.**}} There was a sense of astonishment in the Orb's mental "voice," as though it were simply stating a fact that should be obvious to anyone. {{**I would stop him. You are my friend. I would not let someone hurt either of you that way.**}}

"Thank you, Orb." She sniffled, wiping away a tear on her shirt sleeve. "It's good to know I've got you in my corner, too. And, yeah, I wouldn't want anything to happen to Garfield, either." She smiled slightly. "I've got big plans for that boy." Then she blushed scarlet when she realized the Orb had probably "seen" some of her plans. Particularly the ones where they were naked. "Uhm, keep this between us, okay? I mean…"

{{**I believe the expression is, 'Mum's the word.'**}} _So delightful when she laughs,_ thought the Orb. It amused itself with the thought that the one called Beast Boy would probably think the exact same thing. Progress was being made.

_The probe had completed its analysis of this solar system. It could sense the organic beings on its surface, attempting to attach primitive reaction units to it, in order to move it. Phase I of its programming was complete. The Slade-entity continued to copy data from its databanks, but that was of no consequence. Its limited intelligence told it that one group or another would no doubt endeavor to take parts of it away. That, of course, would not be allowed. So far, the Slade-entity believed itself to be in control of it. It served the probe's ancient Masters for it to continue to believe that. But that state of affairs was soon coming to a halt._

_Progress was being made._

In the city, Raven and Beast Boy had called a brief halt to their rounds, and entered a local McDonald's for a rest. "Hope this doesn't offend you, Beast Boy," Raven mentioned as they entered the restaurant. "I mean, they do serve meat in here…"

"Not a prob, Rae. I'm used to it." They both ordered, Raven getting a salad, while Beast Boy stuck with just a soda.

Sitting at the table, they enjoyed a brief rest. "Garfield? Mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course not, Rae. You know you can ask me anything."

"Well, yes, but….why did you suddenly decide to go with dairy products? I mean, in the past, wild horses couldn't change your mind."

Beast Boy sighed. "Well, Rae, it's something I noticed: have you noticed that, whenever we order food, Terra gets exactly whatever I'm getting? Like the other night, she got a tofu pizza, same as me."

"Well, yes, but so what? I mean…"

"It's like this, Rae. I—we're planning a life together. A life, Raven! That's a long time. I, I don't want her to feel limited by my choices." An image flashed through Raven's mind of Terra, far advanced in pregnancy."I want her to have proper nutrition, and I'm doubtful if a tofu-only diet would give her all the vitamins and minerals she'd need." He paused. "I still won't eat meat. But nothing died to make milk or dairy products. Unless you count the eggs. And, uh, I haven't been an egg for at least eighteen years now." He blushed and ran his fingers through his hair.

She laughed. It was so good to hear her laugh, he thought. "Well, that's….very thoughtful of you, Mr. Garfield Logan. Soon to be Mr. Terra Markov! So. How are things going with you and her? I mean, she's staying in your room…I'm not trying to pry, but—well, I guess I am, in a way."

"We're not having sex or anything, Rae. Not yet. It's just, we enjoy being with each other. And, and I think she feels safer when she's with me." He leaned back, his expression darkening. "Slade….Slade hurt her, Raven. Deeply. Almost as bad as Malchior hurt you, but I guess he was just more honest about it. Isn't that a trip? Hey. Maybe we could fix Malchior up with Slade. They'd make such a cute couple." They both laughed at that. "About the sex part….we both talked it over and thought we'd just wait a while. Not necessarily till the ceremony. Just…we just both want to be really ready, y'know? Although," here he leaned forward, so she could hear his lowered voice, "a few times, when she thought I was asleep, and she….kinda rubbed up against me? Raven, it was sexy as hell. And that's with both of us fully clothed." He blushed.

"Don't ever let _her_ know you were awake. It would ruin her whole day. Here she thought she was being soooo stealthy." _Sluuurrrrpp! _went her straw in the bottom of her smoothie cup.

"Raven?" Something in the tone of his voice caught her attention. He reached over and took her free hand. "I, I just want you to know that, no matter what happens with me and Terra, you'll _always_ be _very_ special to me. Always." He paused. "I don't know if that means anything to you, but it does to me."

Raven blinked the tears away. "Thank you, Garfield. It does mean a lot to me. It really does." _Just not enough._

_To be continued_


	15. Chapter 15: Phoenix Ascending: Knight

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending: Chapter 15: Knight

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

In the room designated for it, the Orb pondered. It was bound by its promise to _Robin_ not to leave this spot, but there could easily come a time when outside action would be necessary. Especially with the probe overhead. Plus, there was…another factor involved.

In order to operate without leaving this room, logic dictated that it would need someone to act in its place. In short, it would need a champion.

Inspiration came to it. Time and space meant nothing to it, of course. There was an ideal champion, just waiting to be summoned. If only he would, what was the human term? Cooperate?

_He was dying. This did not trouble him in the slightest. His kind had never really known any serious fear of death, which was only oblivion, as far as they were concerned. They did not have any concept of life after death; they had never needed one._

_But he did hope he'd fulfilled his mission objective. That was paramount in his mind. His caste, in fact, all the castes, had an inbred need to succeed. Success was everything; failure was simply not to be tolerated._

_His senses were closing down one by one. Although he'd never died before, he knew the biological process by which it happened. It did not distress him half as much as the knowledge that he would never know if his mission was a success or not._

_{{__**Will you fight for me?**__}}_

_What? Who was that? A Lord? Why would a Lord be communicating with him? He was dying. His usefulness was ended._

_{{__**You can yet be of great service, if only you will. But you must agree. That is a decision only you can make.**__}}_

_{{Who are you?}} he asked._

_{{__**That answer would be meaningless to you.**__}}_

_{{Are you a Lord?}}_

_{{__**No.**__}}_

_{{Why then should I serve you?}}_

_{{__**It is not me you would be serving, as such. It is…**__}} A concept formed in his mind, one almost completely foreign to him, one of _Right_ and _Wrong, _of _Good _and _Evil, _of helping those who could not help themselves…_

…_almost, but not _completely_ foreign…_

_He struggled to comprehend these new concepts. It seemed important that he do so. Once, the only thing that mattered to him was the mission, whatever that mission might be. Now, he was being introduced to concepts such as Lords might deal with, matters of great import, what might be called "the big picture."_

_In the very core of his being, suppressed through countless eons of servitude, a part of him, untouched by thousands of centuries of genetic engineering, responded to that. There were those who could not help themselves, who needed _his_ help, not simply the assistance of a warrior, any warrior, but _him. _Not from the standpoint of the lesser serving the greater, as was normal, but of the mightier helping the helpless._

_And, he was being called to fight. He knew how to fight._

_From the last atom of his being, even as all faded around him, he responded. {{I will fight for them. I will be their champion.}} _

_{{__**So let it be. I will begin the fusion process now.**__}}_

_The incredible pain did not bother him in the least._

It was the one hundred and twenty fourth day that Henry Jones had prayed to die.

He remembered everything with perfect, agonizing clarity. The night, the rain, he was driving, the sudden sickening feeling when the car slid out of control. He'd fought the steering wheel as if it were an enemy, a monster out of myth, but what good is power steering when you have no traction? Then, the tree, shining ghostly in his headlights…

"_We've done all we can, Ms. Jones. He'll live; except for his coma, he's actually in good health."_

"'_Good health'? You call this 'good health'? My boy can't move! How can you call-*"_

"_C'mon, Martha. This isn't helping. The doctors are doing all they can."_

"_They've done too much!" His mother was sobbing._

"_You don't mean that. He's alive. As long as he's alive, there's a chance. You know that."_

_(Sounds of his mother weeping, sobbing against her husband's shoulder.) Oh, how he wanted to say, I'm here, Ma, I'm right here! But he couldn't move, couldn't make himself heard. The doctors had given her a shot, given her some pills to take. He cringed when he thought of what she was going through. He wouldn't have hurt her for the world, but that choice wasn't given him. All his choices were gone. Now, the only time he knew any surcease from the endless night was when the nurses came in at ten and gave him a shot. Then he would—sometimes—drift off to sleep, dreaming of the days when he could walk and talk, actually be a part of the world of sunshine and laughter. Now, the only connection he had with that world was his sense of hearing. He only wished that whatever power was in charge of these things would hurry up and get it over with. He was a young man; the thought of going on this way for years—decades, maybe—made him want to scream, but of course, he couldn't._

_{{__**Henry Jones**__}}_

_What? Who was that? Of course, he couldn't answer verbally, but his mind asked, "Who are you? Are you God?"_

_{{__**No. I am only me.**__}}_

"_How is it possible for us to talk like this?"_

_{{__**I cannot really explain that to you, not in terms you would understand. Is it not sufficient that we can?**__}}_

"_Yes, yes, anything's better than that…nothingness. You can hear me. You can actually hear me!" Then, "Can you tell my mother I'm here?"_

_{{__**I can do better than that. I can arrange it so you can tell her yourself.**__}}_

_Now a fear as ancient as mankind asserted itself in him, as he remembered kindergarten, and his church's Vacation Bible School, his preacher, Reverend Reed, in the pulpit. "Are..are you the devil? Come to buy my soul?"_

_He sensed a kind of gentle amusement on the part of the entity that was speaking to him. {{__**No. I am neither devil nor God. I am only me, only a being like yourself, but of a different nature. I have a purpose for you, however, if you would accept it.**__}}_

"_What is that purpose?"_

_{{__**There are many on your world who need someone to help them. Not just to fight for them, for there are many capable of that, but someone to….**__}} And here a wordless, formless concept entered his mind, a concept that his mind translated as 'someone to be there for them.' It was a remarkably complex concept, and differed with each situation._

_{{__**Someone to fight for them.**__}}_

_{{__**Someone to rescue those in trouble.**__}}_

_{{__**Someone to give them hope.**__}}_

_{{__**Someone to give aid and comfort to those in need.**__}}_

_{{__**Someone to be their champion.**__}}_

_{{__**What say you?**__}}_

"_I am not certain what you are asking. I…I cannot do any of those things. I am paralyzed. Surely you can tell that."_

_{{__**Yet you live. You have stood against your own personal darkness for all this time.**__}}_

"_Not willingly."_

_{{__**Does that matter?**__}}_

"_I..I guess not. What would you have me do?"_

_{{__**Perhaps the hardest thing you have ever done. You are prepared, even eager, to die. I ask you to live.**__}}_

"_Like this? What good am I like this?"_

_{{__**Not like this, but very different.**__}}_

"_Different than this? I'll take it!"_

_{{__**So let it be. I will begin the fusion process now.**__}}_

_The pain was beyond anything he'd ever imagined. _

_He literally couldn't have cared less._

In the long-term wing of Conner Memorial Hospital, alarms whooped."_Code blue, room 449; code blue, room 449," _ rang the PA system. Room 449; something was wrong. The charge nurse headed that way at a dead run, motioning for her student to bring the crash cart. _Please, God…_And then halted her prayer in mid-sentence. She knew the history of the patient in 449; she honestly didn't know what to pray about him. Should she pray he live? Or die quietly, peacefully?

The entire floor shook as it seemed that an eighteen-wheeler had run into a corner of the building. She stopped, and grabbed one wall to steady herself. Up and down the hallway, carts shook, people fought for balance. Surely, that commotion couldn't have come from 449. That patient was in what medical practitioners referred to as a "persistent vegetative state;" a coma. He shouldn't be moving at all, let alone shaking the entire hospital. Maybe a bomb went off somewhere outside? Or…maybe an earthquake?

But the youthful, albeit shrunken, African American man she expected to see in room 449 was nowhere to be found. In his place, apparently smashing the heavy-duty hospital bed into the floor, was a stranger, overall human in appearance, but with skin and hair the color of pasteurized milk, and wearing some sort of odd black and silver outfit that resembled a uniform of sorts.

He got up. She found herself backing away unconsciously; there was a dangerous animal grace to his movements. She had seen advanced kung fu instructors move the same way: relaxed, but always balanced, moving on the balls of their feet, arms and legs flexed. "Who are you?" she asked, looking about for Mr. Jones. "Where's Henry Jones?" But the stranger only glanced at her, as though the question did not concern him. Either that, or he couldn't understand the language.

She hit the intercom. "Security! Intruder in 449! Come at once!" She could hear sounds of the on-duty guard moving down the hallway. Why did it occur to her that an army would be no more effective?

The intruder didn't bother to glance at her anymore. Instead he moved towards the window, as though to peer out of it….

…and suddenly ghosted _through_ the wall as though it weren't even there. Or that _he_ wasn't there, which, she realized with a start, he wasn't, anymore….

They were four floors up from the ground. And the room was empty.

_He flew over the city, not recognizing any of it. It was far, far different than any city of his kind. All the buildings, seemingly built haphazardly, of such soft materials, and built right on the ground. And the people!_

_For some reason, he wanted to call them "soft ones." They were not Thinkers; he could see no evidence of advanced neural capacity or any ability to Link. They were definitely not Lords. And there were no warriors present._

_But they were definitely _people.

"_I want to go home." Strange, that thought. The concept literally had no meaning to __him__, but it did to a __part__ of him…_

_He found himself standing in front of a smallish wooden house at the corner of 41__st__ and Trevor Street. He started to phase through the flimsy door, when it occurred to him: that was not the way to do it. He scanned the domicile with his senses, not yet sure why he was here, or even where "here" (overall) was. There was a middle aged woman in one of the bedrooms, lying on the bed. An adult male was sitting in the living room—how did he know what to call these chambers?—watching some primitive form of remote communication known as a "TV."_

_The proper thing to do, he realized, was to knock lightly on the door. But first…_

Robert Jones was watching the nightly news, as was his custom. Martha, his wife, was already in bed for the night. He worried about her; she'd taken the news of their only son's condition rather badly. Now, she was taking prescription medication; he was worried that she was becoming addicted to it, preferring the world of dreams to the waking reality. But honestly. Who could blame her?

There was a soft "thump" sound from the porch, as if someone had thrown something, a newspaper maybe, up against the door. He'd get it later….

But now there came a rapping sound from the door itself. He glanced at his watch, irritated at having to get up and spoil his nightly ritual. _I swear, if it's those Jehovah's Witnesses again, I won't be so nice this time…_

But the sight that met his eyes when he opened the door banished rational thought altogether. Hank was there. His Hank. Right there. In front of him. In his hospital gown. On the porch. Not in a hospital bed; not in a coma, but _standing right freakin' there…_

"H-hank?"

The apparition smiled an achingly familiar smile. "Hi, dad. Am I late for supper?"

_To be continued…_


	16. Chapter 16: Bishop

_AAAaaaannnnnd….chapter 16._

_Sorry for the length of this chapter, but some things can't be broken up without sacrificing some intelligibility. I hope you are enjoying this. I know I am._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending: Bishop

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_I don't own, etc._

Robin and Starfire had answered the emergency call to Conner Memorial, regarding the missing patient. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but could you go over that once again?" Robin was talking to the charge nurse. She'd been the only witness to the event, whatever it was.

"Yes. I, I heard the telemetry monitors go off—you know, heartbeat, respiration, etc., and rushed down the hall to the room, but when I got there, the patient was, was just gone! And, and there was this strange-looking man there."

"Describe him, please."

"Well, he was tall, but not overly so. Maybe a little over six feet, I couldn't swear to it. Built well, but no Hulk Hogan or anything. The, the bed seemed to've smashed down for some reason. But he moved….I dunno, strangely. Like he was preparing for a fight or something. And, and his skin. It was pure white. Not like mine, I mean, but like chalk, or, or milk or something. I don't recall about his eyes, but something about him was just _menacing_. I mean, there was just no doubt in my mind: he was _dangerous._ And, and I didn't see any sign of Mister Jones, the patient. I don't have a clue as to what he did with him."

"You say when you came in, you saw the intruder lying on the bed?"

"Yes. Just like the patient had been, only he wasn't connected to anything, of course. That was what set off the alarms, why I was coming down to check on him, the patient, I mean. They weren't connected anymore."

"Color of his hair?"

"The same as his skin. In fact, at first, I didn't think he even _had_ hair, but then I noticed. And his outfit was black, with some kind of, of what do you call it, a sort of a silvery 'V' design down the front. Frankly, it looked to me like some kind of uniform, though I don't know how I knew that."

"Did he say anything?"

"Nothing. I believe I asked him something, like 'what have you done with Mr. Jones,' or something like that, but he just glanced at me and didn't say a word. Or make any kind of sound whatsoever. Then he just walks to the window and vanishes. Like a ghost!" He asked her a few more questions, then met Starfire in the hospital's hallway, outside the cordoned-off room. "Robin," she nodded towards the room, "Come and see."

Curious, he followed her into the room. There were no bodies, so no chalk circles were in evidence. Starfire gestured towards the flattened hospital bed. "Look," she said, pointing to the undercarriage.

Robin got down on his knees, pulling out a small flashlight to get a better view. He let out a low whistle. The steel undercarriage of the bed was more than just broken, it was actually _crushed_, the metal smashed into other steel parts as if it had gone through a compactor. There was a man-sized and shaped hole in the mattress, but the hospital bed was basically scrap metal now.

"What could have done this?" Starfire asked softly. "Robin…how much weight could this device withstand?"

He thought about it. "Standard hospital beds are usually rated for around 450 to 500 pounds. This one," he nodded towards it, "evidently exceeded its load capacity. By a good bit." He looked around the room. "No evidence of forced entry. Anything larger than 450 pounds would probably not fit through the door. No discernable impact points; it doesn't look like the bed was _struck_, so much, as a great weight was suddenly put upon it. A great weight in the general shape of a man." He pointed to hole in the mattress. "Who then got up and walked away."

….

Robert Jones walked into the bedroom. "Martha? There's someone here to see you." His voice cracked slightly.

"Please, Rob, I'm so tired. Can't they come back some other time?"

Hank Jones, now dressed in his jeans and work shirt, had followed his father in. "No, Ma, I can't. It—it's been too long already." His eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

She looked up, her eyes bleary from the drugs in her system. "No, it can't be, it's some kind of cruel trick. Robert! How dare you! You know how I-*"

Hank came over and knelt by her bed. "No, Ma, it's really me. I'm cured. I'm awake now. I—I remember everything." He took her hands in his. "I don't know exactly how it happened either, but it did. I'm back, Ma. I'm home." And he held her as they both cried tears of joy.

Robert Jones wasn't dry-eyed himself, but he let them have their moment. Then he heard the phone ringing, so he went into the other room and picked it up. "Yes? Hello?"

"Mr. Jones? I'm Captain Sweeney from the precinct. I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. Are you sitting down?"

Robert Jones felt a little sick to his stomach. He sat warily in the patched overstuffed chair that had seen better days, where he normally sat to watch TV. "Some bad news, you say?"

"I'm afraid so. There was a, well, a sort of a break-in down at the hospital where your son is. Whoever they were, they evidently took him with them. Now, please don't worry; not only are my men working on it, but we've enlisted the aid of the Teen Titans. Your son _will_ be found, sir. On that, you have my word."

Robert Jones felt like laughing, but was afraid it would have too little sanity in it. He settled for letting silent tears course down his face. "Captain…Sweeney, did you say? I believe I can safely say that your word has already been kept. My son is here. He's here, he's alive, and he's with his mother right now. Would you like to talk to him?"

….

Dinner at Titan's Tower. Starfire and Cyborg had collaborated in preparing a culinary fiesta: Mexican night. Tacos, Nachos, chalupas, burritos, both with and without beans and/or meat. Terra had helped, paying especially close attention to the recipes and mentally vowing to attend this Chef Hans Culinary Academy herself. After all, it wasn't fair to ask Star and Cyborg to do _all_ the cooking…

Robin stepped into the kitchen, just closing his T-cell. "Very curious," they heard him mutter.

"Rob? Something up?" Cyborg asked him over the sizzle of the refried beans, chili peppers, onions, and meat on the stove.

"You could say that. You remember our missing coma case? Turns out he's not missing anymore. He showed up at his parents' house just a few hours ago. The police questioned him, of course, thinking it might be some imposter out for the old couple's money, but everything about him checks out: fingerprints, retina patterns, dental patterns, and memories. He remembered some things only he could have known about. It seems it's really him." He leaned forward, elbows on the table. "And he has no idea how it came about. Says he just found himself at his parents' door and knocked."

"Robin?" Starfire came over to him, put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm thinking maybe we need to pay Mr. Henry Jones a visit tomorrow. There's still the little matter of that unidentified metahuman in his room. He may have some answers, or can at least point us in the right direction."

….

"Hello? Yes, this is Henry Jones speaking. Who? Oh, right. Yes, I've heard of you, but…yeah, I kinda thought you might be wanting to get in touch with me. No, not here…it's complicated. Perhaps somewhere downtown. Yes, I know the place. One-thirty? Sounds good. I'll meet you there."

…

One-thirty at Ben's was relatively uncrowded. Only a few people were there, holdovers from the lunch crowd. Robin and Starfire had agreed to meet Henry "Hank" Jones there, and had arrived early. The waitress had had a hard time understanding what Starfire wanted to drink. Finally, Robin had said, "Look, just get her the largest bottle of French's you have. In fact, make it several. Believe me, it'll do." The waitress had gone off, shaking her head in disbelief.

Hank Jones arrived at, according to Robin's watch, exactly 1:29 p.m. He immediately came over to their table; the Tameranean girl and the Boy Wonder were rather conspicuous. "Hello, Mr. Jones, I'm Robin, and this is Starfire." The pair rose to greet him. "Thank you for meeting us on such short notice."

"No problem. I kinda figured you—or somebody like you—would be wanting to get in touch with me, and home just isn't a good place to do that right now. Especially," and here he hesitated, "especially if you want the absolute truth about what happened."

"Well, yes. The initial reports were that you were abducted by persons unknown."

Hank Jones leaned back, completely relaxed. "'Abducted.' I suppose you could put it that way."

"So. Wanna tell us what happened?"

"Before I start…what do you know of my medical condition prior to this…incident?"

"Only what the hospital records showed. MVA, massive trauma to the brain, resulting in a coma. But before that, you did a tour of duty in the Middle East, didn't you?"

Hank stared. "You're good. Yeah, I did my rotation in Afghanistan. I suppose you know my older brother also did one, but he didn't come back."

"Yes, I had read that in the file. It must have been painful for you and your parents..."

"To put it mildly. And then, with what happened to me…You, see, Robin, to my mother, right now, what happened to me was nothing short of a miracle from God. The 'man' in my room was an angel, pure and simple, and nothing you can say will change her mind. So I let her believe that. It…it isn't _too_ far removed from the truth." The waitress came and brought Starfire another large container of mustard, and Hank stared as the alien princess popped her straw down in it and began sucking it up. He glanced at Robin with a quizzical expression; Robin just shrugged, as if to say, _it's a big universe._

"You mentioned the truth. What, exactly, did happen to you, Mr. Jones?"

"Please. Call me Hank. Somebody says 'Mr. Jones', I look around for my dad." He took a deep breath. "Alright. Here it is, as simply and as truthfully as I know it myself." And he told them about everything that had transpired since the alien entity had contacted him, right on up to the "fusion" process, which he didn't have much information on.

"Robin?" Starfire interjected, "This sounds most troublingly like the Orb. But why would it do this sort of thing?"

"We don't yet know that it did anything, and if it did, just what. But that's the way my intuition's telling me to go. Now," turning to Hank, "about this other person…"

Hank drew a deep breath. "He's….me…..sorta. Or, more accurately, a part of me. Now, at least. I think the 'fusion' process it mentioned somehow made one person outta two. Both of us were, if not dying, doing the next best thing. Somehow it combined us, is what I'm thinking, so that we're better off than before. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't look like a guy who just spent a third of a year in a coma. So I'm guessing the process sorta healed me of that, too. As for this other guy…I don't know too much about him right now, because I'm still learning, but he seems like a decent man, and yes, he is a man, as we understand the term. He was told the score and volunteered to come here and fight the forces of evil, or whatever term they're using these days. Before, he didn't even know what good and evil were, literally. But when he understood there were people here who needed him, he re-upped. I guess, in a sense, so did I."

"Could we talk to him?"

"Good question." Hank finished his lemonade and signaled for another. "You see, I'm not sure if he knows how to communicate by sound. I'm not even sure if he _can_. His communication with the Lords was apparently done by some kind of mental telepathy. He can _hear_ sounds, but I'm not sure if he has the necessary apparatus to communicate by sound."

"Might we meet him?"

Hank bit his lip. "Robin, I've been straight with you. This guy…isn't really human. He doesn't come from a culture remotely like humans. I—I can't guarantee how he'll act…"

"But you can change into him at will, can you not? And you are aware of what's going on, the whole time. So you could change back instantly, should things go sour."

"I…..suppose…."

Robin leaned forward. "Mr. Jones—Hank—this isn't a make or break issue. We trust your judgment on the matter. If you feel things could get out of control, then we'll accept your recommendations on that."

"Well, I do have a bad feeling about it, but, okay." He got up, heading for the rest room. "Cover for me," he mouthed, just before entering….

…..there was a moment….

…And a stranger came in the front door, rather than the bathroom door Robin and Starfire had been watching. He pulled a chair out from the table they were sitting in, but instead of sitting in it, he knelt on the floor, sitting on his heels, in a perfectly relaxed posture, looking up at them.

Robin looked him over _very_ carefully. Height, about 6'3", body type, muscular but not overly so. Hair and skin: milk white in coloration. Some sort of a dark headband around his head, running under his hair, culminating in a curious design in front, above his eyes—wait, scratch that. It was flush with his skin. If it was artificial, it was implanted. Eyes themselves: dead black, with red-gold highlights in the back. He had moved like a dancer. _Of course, _Robin thought,_ most martial arts are grounded in dance, to one degree or another. Why didn't he sit in the chair? _But then he remembered the smashed hospital bed…

"How do you do, sir? I am Robin, and this is Starfire." Starfire was currently sitting entranced, watching him, totally ignoring her fourth container of mustard.

Of his features, Robin could not find all that much unusual. He had fine features, with prominent, high cheekbones, a thin, straight nose, thin eyebrows, and very large eyes. Was that a hint at an Asiatic tilt to them? Robin couldn't really tell. The sheer whiteness of his skin tended to effectively obliterate any trace of ethnic similarity.

The stranger reached up and patted his throat. His mouth didn't move. Absently, Starfire sucked at her container of mustard, and the sound drew his attention. Although his face didn't seem like one to show much expression, there was a hint of amusement in the very back of his eyes, perhaps a slight crinkling of the skin around them, or so it seemed to Robin. He looked at the remaining container of mustard; then to Hank's lemonade, still unfinished. He reached up and drew the lemonade off the table, placing it at their feet. Starfire still had a grip on her mustard.

The stranger reached up again, and gripped the edge of the heavy laminated table with his thumb and forefinger. It gave a hideous groan and a _crack!_ Sound emanated from its foot; evidently, it had been bolted to the floor. With two fingers, he lifted it out of the way, and placed it on its side beside them.

The cashier had looked up at the sound. "Hey!" Robin made an 'it's okay' gesture. "Don't worry; we'll cover it." Then he turned his attention back to the stranger, who'd effectively cleared the area between them, and whose attention was currently fixed on the floor.

He reached out and touched the floor's surface. And the floor came alive.

_Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words,_ thought Robin, even as the three-dimensional images on the floor coalesced. It showed a tropical, steaming planet reminiscent of the Age of Reptiles on Earth, but here, the dominant life-forms were clearly humanoid. They were depicted as being in the process of building huge cities apparently floating in mid-air, and fighting, always fighting for dominance amongst themselves. There were three evident types: one, tall and so thoroughly swathed in some form of cloak or robes that whether or not they were even humanoid was left to conjecture, and either wore something akin to Polynesian "tiki" masks or else had a most oddly shaped head and face. The other resembled the stranger, and were usually depicted as doing most of the fighting and heavy physical labor. The third…

Robin's eyes twisted slightly as he strove to take in what he was being shown. The third category appeared to be humanoid, but with underproportioned bodies and vastly enlarged heads. They were usually shown in groups of two or more, and there seemed to be something connecting the individuals, some thin trace of something that might've been matter or some odd form of energy connection, he couldn't decide. And it may've been a figurative representation.

_So,_ thought Robin, _three classes. Master, soldier, and, and, scientist, maybe?_ He remembered Hank talking about the "Lords;" the tall ones were clearly in charge, exerting an obvious control over the others. "So this is the world you come from?" The stranger simply nodded.

"Robin?" Starfire had been watching the floor show. "I have heard stories, rumors, legends of beings like these. But they are no more. They were supposed to form the basis for many worlds' legends of gods and other supernatural beings."

"It figures," he mused "Pretty much every culture on Earth has something similar: a race of godlike beings perpetually fighting amongst themselves. It would stand to reason that they'd evolve into a differentiated species. Say," he addressed the stranger, "You might not can answer me, but do you have a, a, means of self-designation? A name?"

The stranger stared momentarily, and Robin had a brief mental picture of the being in front of them somehow communicating with the consciousness of Hank Jones for a translation. Then, he gestured to the floor again, where a symbol appeared, resembling a horseshoe shape, but more closed, and with protruding ears at each end: "Ω."

Robin recognized it right away. It was the Greek symbol for _omega_, the last letter in their alphabet. But was this a name, a means of self-designation, as the Orb would say, or was this what he was? The last of his kind? Robin was acutely conscious of their dependence on Hank's ability to_ translate_ Earthly concepts for the warrior.

"So, you're…..Omega? We can call you that?" The stranger again hesitated, but nodded.

"Omega, do you know why you were brought here?" Again, a hesitation, then a nod. "Do you understand the purpose of a group like mine?" Again a nod, this time with no hesitation at all. "Would you agree to come with us back to Titans' Tower, for some tests and measurements?" This time the hesitation was longer, but finally the stranger nodded, albeit, Robin thought, a bit warily. He got up, and replaced the table in its previous place, rocking it back and forth momentarily. "That's okay, Omega, we'll cover the…damage…" He stared. The table was once more firmly fixed to the floor. But Omega's hands had never been anywhere near the table's foot…

The trip back was uneventful, with the stranger—Omega—flying alongside Starfire, perfectly at ease in the air, almost as if it were his natural element. Which, Robin thought, it just might be.

Once back, with Cyborg's help, they calibrated their instruments to make some basic measurements on Omega. Height: 6'4"—it distressed Robin a bit that he was off by an inch—skin/hair color, powder white. All body proportions, human normal. The band on his head , whether natural or artificial , appeared to be part of him. Weight….

"Hey, Rob, this can't be right." Cyborg drew Robin's attention to the LED read-out. It read "0."

"Zero weight?" Robin turned his attention to Omega, reclining on the measuring gurney. "Uhm, Omega? Is this your correct weight?" The silent figure shook his head. "Are you holding yourself up, somehow? Levitating?" A nod. "Would it be okay if we got your weight, here in this gravity?" Omega looked at them for a moment. Then a creaking and groaning of metal filled the air, and the gauge…

…began going crazy. "What th'?" Cyborg bit back his alarm as the meter rose smoothly from zero to 5,432 standard pounds. Nor did it stop there….

…7,212…9,032…11,356…"Uh, Rob? My instruments _do_ have an upper limit…"

The read-out finally stabilized at 19.24 _tons_.

The three Titans gazed in open-mouthed astonishment. "He..he's gotta be made of something other than normal matter," Cyborg finally said. "Ain't no way he could be that size and weigh that much. That's whale size." He paused. "_Large_ whale size."

The x-ray spectrographs proved equally distressing. They showed him as composed of high chromium steel, lead, copper…in short, they depicted the contents of the scanner rather than its target. And he didn't seem to understand what they were asking of him. "He's gotta have some kind of force field that reflects probes and other energy sources back on themselves," theorized Cyborg. "That'd be a handy defense: any energy weapon gets reflected back on the attacker. It's actually _better_ than simple invulnerability. Hm. I wonder…" And he got that far-off look in his eye that he got whenever he was confronted by a problem.

Robin turned to Omega, still on the measuring table. "Well, that's really all we have to do for right now. Thank you, Omega, for helping us out. And, uh, if you can hear me, thank you, too, Hank. I'm sure we couldn't have done it without your help. Omega? Are you hungry?" It just occurred to him they didn't even know what the strange being ate.

Omega, standing now, once again got that _look_ as though he were communicating with the consciousness of Hank Jones, somewhere inside him. Then he went over to a nearby garbage can, full to overflowing with the week's collection of waste. Picking it up, he held it in front of him….

…and the garbage can and its contents faded from sight. Robin couldn't be sure, but it seemed as though Omega had somehow _absorbed_ the mass of the can and contents directly.

_The perfect warrior,_ thought Robin,_ he can go anywhere, do pretty much anything, and directly convert any available mass to body fuel. Hm. Wonder if he has to go to the bathroom?_ Somehow, he didn't think so.

He turned to Starfire and Cyborg. "Could you two entertain our guest a moment? I'd like to have a word with the Orb." They both nodded, wordlessly. Omega was a little strange, even by their broad standards.

Once at the door of the Orb's room, Robin was about to knock, when the words formed in his head. {{**Come in, Robin, my friend.**}}

He opened the door. "Orb? I've just come from meeting a most interesting and unusual individual. Except I don't think he's totally an individual anymore. Do you know anything about a Henry Jones?"

{{**Of course. Is he not perfect?**}}

"Perfect for what? And just what did you do, anyway?"

{{**He is perfect for the job of being my champion. I've an important role for him to play. A very important role. He, and the Other.**}}

"The Other?"

{{**The one you call Omega. I will need someone to act in my stead. They should both do nicely. Is it not wonderful?**}}

"Well, I _guess_ it is. I'm sure Hank's mother appreciates what you've done, but I get the impression you didn't do this solely out of altruism."

{{**Is not altruism the doing of something for someone else, with no thought of direct personal gain involved?**}}

"Uh, well, yes, in a way…"

{{**Then I both have and have not acted in a totally altruistic way. You and yours will be the ****direct**** beneficiary of these actions. But I will also benefit, because you do. The benefit you will derive will please me.**

**Is this not altruism?**}}

"I suppose….but what role do you have for him to play?"

{{**I really cannot explain yet. You will have to see.**}}

"I…see." He clearly wasn't going to get any useful information out of the Orb like this.

He went back downstairs, and found Cyborg, Starfire, Terra, and Omega in the kitchen of the complex. Cyborg was cooking something; the smell made Robin's mouth water.

Omega stood to one side of Cyborg, staring steadily at the stove. Cyborg noticed this. "You need somethin', m'man?" No response. "Say, Rob, how are we supposed to communicate with this guy? Can he understand us?"

"Yes, he can hear you, Vic. But he apparently can't talk. Whatever words you use, his alter-ego can translate. But it's an inside job."

"Who's his alter-ego?"

"Guy named Hank Jones. He was a coma patient not long ago…" Robin trailed off, as Omega moved towards Cyborg.

Before anybody could do anything, Omega had walked _through_ Cyborg, as if one of them were made out of smoke. Then he reached up to the cupboard and…

…reached _through_ the cupboard door, taking out a skillet, mixing bowl, wire mesh mixer, and a wooden spoon. "Hey!"

"It's okay, Cyborg. Let's see what he's gonna do."

As they watched, Omega got out shortening, milk, eggs, salt, flour, butter, and corn meal mix. He put some shortening into the frying pan, and set it on the stove to heat up. Then he mixed up the other ingredients, blending the eggs in with the mesh mixer, but finishing up on everything else with the spoon. Soon he had a thick, yellow batter, and the grease was hot in the skillet.

Skillfully, he patted the batter into patties, shaping it into rough circles about three inches wide and about three-quarters deep. Then he placed them carefully in the now-hot grease, where they immediately began to sizzle. Some of the hot grease spattered on his hand; he didn't seem to notice.

He turned them over once or twice, and, in just a few minutes, scooped them out (with a slotted spoon, Robin noted) and placed them in a bowl lined with paper towels.

Cyborg looked at Robin. "Maybe this guy can cook? I gotta try one…" He gingerly picked up a hot patty (just because his fingers were stainless steel didn't mean he made a habit of shoving them into hot grease!), and tentatively tried a bite. "Mmmph. Hey, these are good! Hey, Rob, everybody, try one!"

Robin, Starfire and Terra each got one, tossing them back and forth a few times to cool them off. "Hey," said Terra," These ARE good! What are they, anyway? And where'd he learn how to cook?"

Omega stood in front of them, his face expressionless. Then he crossed his arms over his chest, and….

….there was a flash of light…

….and Hank Jones stood in front of them. "That's fried cornbread. As to where I learned it, that's simple. I learned it from the best cook on the face of the planet: my Mom."

Cyborg was still in food heaven. "So YOU'RE the alter-ego? 'S good ta meet'cha, man. Man, you gotta show me how you made these." The two shook hands.

"No problem." The two began to talk recipes. Soon, Starfire joined them, eager to glean any nuggets of information she could.

"Hey, what smells so good?" Beast Boy and Raven joined them.

"Oh, yes, glad you're all here," Robin said, "Introductions: Guys, this is Hank Jones. He sorta shares a body with someone else, somebody we call Omega. He made these." He gestured towards the bowl. "Dig in."

Soon they were all sitting around the table. "Man," said Cyborg, around another bite of fried cornbread, "I have GOTTA meet your mom."

"You know, I'd like that. But I'll haveta be careful. She doesn't know about my, uhm, what's the best word? Well, hell, I guess the best one's to call him my brother under the skin. Anyway, she doesn't know. I'll have to kinda break that to her gently; she's had enough shocks for a couple of lifetimes."

"So, Hank," asked Robin, "What sort of a guy _is_ Omega? I mean, he himself can't tell us a whole lot about himself…"

Hank chuckled. "Actually, he probably could, but from what I gather, he's not accustomed to thinking in those terms. Where he comes from, people are like, mass-produced in, I dunno, factories or something. He doesn't even have a name, really; the term 'Omega' just kinda came to me, and I passed it on to him. His actual designation is a string of numbers like you wouldn't believe. They call themselves 'Osirans', but whether that's the actual name of their people or just the closest translation, I'm not sure."

"Osirans?" This from Raven, tentatively trying a bite of fried cornbread.

"Oh, hey. You must be Raven. I'm Hank. Hank Jones." He reached out his hand to shake hers, and she responded. To Robin's eyes, it seemed the handshake went on just a hair longer than it had to. _Probably my imagination,_ he thought. _But that is unusual; Raven hardly ever shakes hands…._ "Yeah, according to what I'm picking up, these Osirans lived in some kinda long ago and far away type situation. But they were masters of genetic engineering. So they had, like, three classes or castes: the Lords, which is kinda self-explanatory, the warriors, again, self-explanatory, and the Thinker class, who were mostly the scientist or technical types. Each caste had something, some ability, maybe more than one, that distinguished them from the others. You've met Omega; he's one of the warrior caste. I gather the Lords exerted some sort of mental hold over the other two.

"And apparently, Osirans fought. As in 'a lot'. Enough so they felt the need to create a warrior caste, and mass produce 'em in batchloads. As for the rest, I'm still learning."

"Well, it's good to meet you," Raven said. To the others' astonished looks, she replied, "well, it _is_."

"Say, Hank," Cyborg's voice was pensive. "I'm curious: just what's Omega made of, anyway? I mean, his readings were almost off the scale…"

"Not sure." A pause. "Apparently, where he comes from, matter….isn't the same as where we are." Another pause. "I'm getting the impression of ordinary matter, but with much less space between the electron shell and the nucleus. What would you call that, compact matter? High density matter?"

"Compact matter sounds good. CM for short. And, hey, Rob….think Omega might know something about….?" He gestured up with his head.

Hank looked puzzled, but Robin just sighed. "I doubt it's a matter of secrecy. I mean, anybody with a telescope…Hank, there's a giant probe overhead. We don't know where it came from, and it appears to be made of some strange sort of matter, too. Something we're not familiar with. Would Omega have any insights on that?"

"I'll ask." Pause, while his eyes took on a far-away look. "Hm. He noticed something like what you're talking about….doesn't recognize the design specifically, but he has seen some things similar to it."

"Can he tell us anything about it?"

"One thing for certain: if it's of Osiran manufacture, it's dangerous. Those folks didn't build anything that _wasn't_. Aside from that, he'd have to get a close-up, using his senses. He can't use 'em while, while I'm on the outside, so to speak. When he's not me."

"Well, we don't need to endanger you or anything, but it looks like you—and he—may be needed. Are you okay with that?"

"Am I okay with it? Robin, you're talking to a guy who spent nearly a good part of a year in a coma. And I came back to do some good for people, not just lay around and watch the Disney Channel. I'm most definitely up for it." He paused, then smiled a bit ruefully. "Just don't tell my mom."

….

_It was interesting. He'd not had the opportunity to examine the soft ones' orbital station earlier; now he ran a full tactical scan and analysis. It was woefully inadequate in terms of defense; he'd have to help them with some upgrades and modifications._

_A simple fusion reactor supplied the power for the station. He could assist them in improving that, too, if they'd let him._

_Not for the first time, as he was being conveyed to the control center via elevator, he asked himself, just what was he doing here? These individuals, while not warriors, nonetheless did not need him. And now he was being called to examine an artifact that might be of his people's design. And so he wondered: were they really his people anymore? What if, somewhere, there were other Osirans?_

_Where, exactly, did his loyalty lie?_

_Now the elevator door opened, to reveal the station's control center, currently dominated by a soft one draped in black, who carried himself like a Lord. A quick appraisal: although no match for him, physically, this one nonetheless had the intellectual capability to be very dangerous. He filed that away in the back of his mind for future reference._

Batman eyed the stranger, then turned to Robin, who'd escorted him to the Justice League's Watchtower. "This him?"

"Yes, sir. He can't talk, but he can understand you."

Batman narrowed his eyes. The stranger—Omega, they'd called him—seemed perfectly at ease despite his unfamiliar surroundings. And he was looking around, looking around with a sense of evaluating his environment. "So what can he tell us about the probe?"

"Omega? This way." Robin led the way to the panel of viewscreens, pointed to the one depicting the probe. "This is what we have, Omega. Does it look familiar to you?"

The one called Omega looked at the viewscreens, but in truth, he'd already evaluated the probe to some degree. The screens were only a visual piped in from the outside cameras; now he turned his attention to the probe itself. To someone looking at him, it would look like he was examining the floor, when in actuality, his senses were focused _through_ the floor, onto the probe outside.

_Hm. Most curious. He'd never encountered anything quite like this, but he saw its applications already. The cavernous maw was used for containing reactions that required force-fields to control them. The probe was designed to be completely self-sufficient, needing no outside fueling system. The positronium was made and concentrated, from the quantum substrate, when needed, as much as needed. He knew what that much positronium would be used for, but he had no way of determining the probe's agenda or schedule. That would require a detailed look at its programming, and he could already tell it had been designed and programmed to resist such intrusion. A Thinker could link in with it, but he was no Thinker._

_He had no way of knowing the probe's purpose, but he could make some of what the one bonded to him called "educated guesses."_

_He'd gathered as much information as he could in this condition. Time to report._

Batman watched as the one called "Omega" crossed his arms in front of himself, and, with a silent flare of light, transformed back into Hank Jones. "O—kay." Hank shook himself, getting used to the artificial gravity of the Watchtower. "Robin? Batman? Do you have any plans for getting rid of this thing?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Ah, not to be telling you how to do your job, but could you maybe step 'em up a little?"

"Why? What is it, Hank?"

Hank breathed out. He looked pale. "It's here to destroy the world."

Batman didn't even look surprised.

_To be continued. Definitely._


	17. Chapter 17: Phoenix Ascending: Echoes

_Here's chapter 17. Hope this answers some questions….and poses others. (I love being all mysterious like that!)_

_As before, I don't, you know._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending: Chapter 17: Echoes

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

"So, Tara, wanna go get pizza?"

"…maybe later. I'm not real hungry right now."

"You? Not hungry? For _pizza_?" Ashley tapped the side of her head. "I _think_ I'm still on Earth. But are you?" The three of them had already covered the mall and were considering lunch.

Tara tried to seem casual, browsing through a collection of tops. "Too much pizza'll put pounds on faster than anything. Plus it's murder on your complexion."

"That never stopped you before. Who knows? Maybe we'll run into You-know-who."

She sighed. "Look. For the umpteenth time, I am NOT chasing him, okay? I mean, who's he to me? Just because he's a real, live superhero who, who probably saves the world on a regular basis…"

"Don't forget '_terminally cute_ superhero'."

"…terminally cute superhero who probably saves the world on a regular basis…"

"And who's currently pining away for his lost love, whom you _just so happen_ to resemble…."

"Look, I really don't wanna go that route, okay? I mean…."

"Tara's a chicken, Tara's a chicken, Tara's a chicken, _bwock-bok-bok-bwock!"_

Tara gritted her teeth. "Quizno's. Take it or leave it."

"Oh, pooh."

The trio found themselves at Quizno's right at rush hour. It was unbelievable just how many people packed themselves in, everyone apparently there on his or her lunch break, all of them having to get their orders to go, and _right now._

Tara got a six inch cold cut combo, while Ashley and Madison both had to have the meatball sub. That meant they had to wait while it was heated up….

While they waited, Madison grilled Tara. "So tell me about this rescue you had the other day."

Tara sighed. She really didn't want to go over it, but her two friends just wouldn't let it go. "It wasn't that much of a deal. These goons just tied us up, but the Titans—"

"And Beast Boy!"

"—Came blasting in and saved me. _Us_, I mean! And, yes, I got to meet Beast Boy. He's very nice. He's also very uninterested. End of story. Why do you two keep bringing it up?"

"Tara! You've been here for two years, and that's pretty much all you've talked about, is Beast Boy this, Beast Boy that, Beast Boy every where you look. Now you get a perfect chance to meet him, and you flail. Now you're trying desperately to pretend like he doesn't matter to you anymore. You're not fooling anybody, you know."

"I am NOT gonna chase ANY boy, no matter who or what he is. And Beast Boy's just not interested. So…"

"Sometimes you gotta MAKE 'em interested, you know…"

Tara raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And just how, exactly, would I do that? Show up at Titans' Tower in a teddy? Come _on!_"

"My sister's got these killer shorts…"

"She's also got killer legs to go in 'em. Mine look like two matchsticks side by side. Why do you think I don't wear red shoes? Now come on. You aren't seriously suggesting that, are you?"

"All I'm sayin' is, show him _you're_ interested. Or, at least, y'know, available…."

"You're talking 'desperate,' not 'available.'"

"Hey, whatever it takes. Oooooo, don't look now, but….." Ashley gestured towards the door. Beast Boy and Raven had just come in.

"Oh, _shit_, he _would_ pick _this one place_. Quick, you guys, hide me." And she grabbed a menu and held it in front of her, crouching down beside Ashley, trying to hide.

Ashley, however, wasn't having any. She put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled sharply. "Yo, Titans! Over here!" She waved her arm. The two figures looked startled, but the girl—Raven—nodded and, after placing their order, drifted over in the direction of the three high-schoolers, Beast Boy trailing after.

"Ashley, I am gonna kill you for this, I sweartogod," But she straightened up and tried to seem nonchalant.

"Hey, Tara! We meet again!"

"Yes. Imagine that." Somehow Tara found what was left of her sandwich endlessly fascinating.

Ashley wasn't one to beat around any bushes. She turned her full attention on Beast Boy. "So, Beast Boy, tell me: are you, like, seeing any-*"

"Ow!" Beast Boy grimaced.

"What?"

"Felt like somebody kicked me."

"Surely no-* Ow!" exclaimed Ashley, as Tara corrected her aim.

Madison was talking to Raven. "So, Raven, I hear you're into Eastern meditation?"

"You might say that." Raven calmly took a bite of her sandwich.

Ashley had turned back to Beast Boy. "So, Beast Boy, like I was saying…"

Raven choked, as she coughed a bit. They turned to look at her. "Somebody kicked me, under the table."

They turned to look at Tara, whose face was tomato red. "I'm, I'm sorry. It's me. Old boating accident, a couple of years ago. Messes up my long-term memory, and, uh, I occasionally get this muscle spasm." She turned a gritted-teeth smile on Ashley. "_Especially_ when I _hear_ certain _words_ and _phrases_, know what I mean?" All the while punctuating each emphasized word with a well-placed kick.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Al_right_, T, I'll behave!"

Beast Boy spoke up. "So, Tara…I don't mean to seem like I'm prying or anything, but, somebody was asking me the other day what your last name is?"

"Zharkov. My dad's a professor of Linguistics over at the University."

"_In_teresting. Boating accident, you said?" Beast Boy was being way more cool and casual than he usually was around girls, thought Raven.

"Yes. A family outing. I was water skiing, and, well, ended up taking a tumble. When I came to, well, I guess a lot of my previous memories were kinda jumbled. I can remember stuff from before then; it just takes effort." She looked down at her sandwich. "It—it's really not that big a deal."

"Guess it depends. I've a few memories I wouldn't mind losing. And that was two years ago, you said?" He glanced at Raven, who was still chatting with Madison about meditation techniques. She glanced back, just enough to say she hadn't missed anything.

"So, Beast Boy," chirped Ashley, totally forgetting her promise, "you doing anything this weekend?" Tara rolled her eyes and tried to sink down in her seat.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do have monitor duty. Dull as dishwater, usually, but you never know. And I traded off with Robin last time, so I'm overdue. Can't wiggle out of it."

"Gosh. It sounds so fascinating! I mean, fighting crime, and, and all that…"

Beast Boy laughed. "If I'm lucky, it'll be as exciting as watching paint dry. But somebody's gotta do it." They talked on a bit, with Ashley desperately trying to insert an ever-more-blushing Tara, who was beginning to wonder if it was actually possible to die of acute embarrassment-overload, into the conversation.

At one point, Raven reached over and put her hand lightly on Beast Boy's. She didn't notice Tara jump slightly when she did that, as though pricked with a pin. Didn't notice her eyes widen, or her nostrils flare ever so slightly. "We might need to be getting on back. Robin and Starfire are due back from the Watchtower, and I'm sure they'll….what was that?"

"What was what?" Ashley and Madison looked puzzled; Tara looked pale, her lips compressed, staring at the table. She was shaking, ever so slightly.

But Beast Boy had felt it too. A faint tremor, as if something heavy—a train or a truck, maybe—had gone by out front. But then it came again, stronger this time.

"Uhm, everyone?" Raven had risen from her seat. "We might need to get outside." The tremor didn't subside, but grew stronger. People in the restaurant turned, looked around, and instinctively headed for the door.

_Now_, it came again, even stronger. Several people standing in line struggled to stay upright; the lights flickered, and the TV screen blinked to static.

"C'mon, girls," Beast Boy urged, "Everybody outside." But the lunch crowd had beat them to it, and were currently stopping up both exits as effectively as a cork in a bottle. "Raven! We need another door!"

"On it. Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven gestured towards the nearest wall; beams of black light shot from her outstretched arms, meeting the brick wall, but, rather than blasting through it, grasped it as a solid plug and _pushed_ it outside. Broken pipes began gushing water and other, less easily identifiable fluids. "Out this way, everyone, step it up now." By now the shaking was so pronounced, they could see objects outside falling from upper stories. Car alarms sounded in the distance. And the ground kept on giving this sickening _ripple_…

They assembled out in the street. "Hey," said Beast Boy, "Where's Tara?"

Madison was pale. "I—I thought she was right behind me…"

"She must still be in there." Beast Boy was grim. "I'm going back in. Rae, cover for me, would'ja?"

"Be careful, Garfield."

In wolf form he nosed into the now-darkened restaurant. There; over there where their table had been, was a flash of light colored hair. He couldn't see color, of course, but he didn't need to.

She had fallen, evidently, while trying to get up, and the table had fallen on her. He sniffed her face; she didn't seem to be conscious.

Shifting to gorilla form, he easily lifted the heavy table off her and picked her up. The added agility in this form helped; the tremors were still ongoing, making it difficult to retain one's footing.

_Crack!_ An overhead beam or support broke loose over them. Only a second to dodge; he held the unconscious girl close to his chest and vaulted out of the way. But now the hole he'd come in by was blocked…

"Garfield! Beast Boy!"

Quickly he swung over the counter, and, with his feet, smashed the pickup window out, widening it enough to squeeze through carrying Tara. She lay totally limp in his arms, and he examined her closely for any signs of trauma. Still carrying her, he rejoined the group outside in the street, morphing back to human only when Raven bent to look at Tara's quiescent form. "Is she hurt, Rae?"

"I don't see any signs of any damage, but she could've hit her head. We'd best call an ambulance." Ashley and Madison were both clutching each other, alternating between being speechless with fright and hysterical.

"Screw that. With all this goin' on, EMTs are probably out all over town. We'll have to take her to ER ourselves." He glanced up at the other two girls. "Look, girls, it's okay, everything's under control, 'kay? But I do need you to calm down. We gotta get Tara, here, to the hospital. Just to make sure nothing's wrong with her. I doubt Rae and I will be able to stay with her, what with all the 911s you know are being called in now. Can we count on you to stay there with her?"

"Of, of course, but, but Beast Boy! What just happened? What's going on?" Ashley was on the verge of freaking out.

"I think it was a minor earthquake. See? It's already dying down. Everything's gonna be fine. Now." In human form, he bent down and picked up Tara, careful to support her head so it lay against his chest. "Which way is the closest ER?"

Back at Titans' Tower, Terra had been busy researching different forms of matter, and gamma ray lasers. All of a sudden, pain shot through her head, pain like someone had stabbed her with something sharp. She groaned and slid to the floor, instantly unconscious.

Tara's consciousness swam reluctantly back into her head. She could dimly see, bending over her, the forms of the nurse and the doctor. "Miss Zharkov? Can you hear me?"

"Y-yes. I can. Wh-what happened?" Gaining strength, she looked around and saw Ashley and Madison standing nearby, both of them looking as if they could start crying any minute. "Where am I?"

Another form moved into visibility. This was one she knew very well indeed: the purple and black outfit, the green skin…and that wonderful smile, so full of fun…

"Tara, it's me, Beast Boy. There was an earthquake, you hit your head, so we brought you here. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Getting stronger." She tried to sit up, but decided _that_ was a bit beyond her just yet. "Beast Boy…did you save me? Again?"

"Er, well, it was actually a joint effort, you know…."

"He so totally did!" Ashley actually sounded indignant. "When we noticed you were missing, nothing would do but that he went back in, all alone, and dug you out of the rubble. We could hear the sounds of him turning the place inside and out looking for you! And he wouldn't come out 'till he'd found you and brought you to safety."

Beast Boy was blushing. "Ah, girls, you really are making it sound way more dramatic than it actually was…."

"Beast Boy?" Tara's voice was still weak. "I'm, I'm sorry if I'm not, not expressing myself better, but I, I really do appreciate you. All the work you do, I mean. You and Raven, of course…say, where is Raven, anyway?"

"She got called out. Some impressive fires got started. They're needing me, too, but I wanted to make sure you were okay first. So. Are you?"

Dammit, when did he grow up on her like this? No longer the klass klown, but now a young man, with a young man's sense of responsibility; a young man who was _needed_ by people in need of a hero.

People like her.

And he'd stayed long enough to make sure she was okay. That was…that was…

Beast Boy saw the tears trickling out of her eyes, and took her in his arms as best as he could, considering she was still tied to the monitors on her hospital gurney. "Look. It's alright, okay? Everything's fine now. You're safe, and your parents have been notified, they're on their way now. And your friends are here." He hesitated and looked at her. "Tara? Do..do you want me to stay here with you, at least until your parents get here?"

_He would, too, _thought Tara, _he would totally ignore all the reports coming in, all the calls for help, just to be by the side of some nit-wit of a girl he doesn't even know, who practically ran away from him the first time she met him, and, and, and, and lots of things!_

"No, please. I, I know you've got things to do. I'll be fine, go on." She sniffled and managed a brave smile. "I'm okay."

_Terra floated alone in the darkness. At first, she didn't know she was in the darkness; such realization requires a certain amount of introspection. But it came to her…..memory….._

_She'd been in Titans' Tower, researching positronium and gamma ray lasers. Then, pain. Then, nothing._

_Where was she?_

_{{_**It is alright, Terra. You are safe.**}}

"_Orb? Is that you? Where am I?"_

_{{_**Your physical body is currently in what you call the infirmary of Titans' Tower.**}}

"_How did I get here? What happened?"_

_{{_**I brought you here. You had a…**}} And here she sensed the Orb fumbling about for a word. {{**A brain aneurism. A blood vessel in your brain burst.**}}

"_You're saying I had a STROKE?"_

{{**I believe that is one word for it.**}}

"_But, but…how, I mean, what…what's happening to me? Where am I now, to be talking to you?"_

_She sensed a certain hesitation on the part of the Orb. _{{**Terra. Please be calm. You are fine, now. But there is something I must tell you, because it is important.**}}

"_What? Orb, tell me!"_

{{**Alright. Terra, your brain suffered massive damage. Now, do not panic, but your brain is not functioning right now.**}}

_She struggled to grasp it. "Are—are you saying I'm dead?"_

{{**By the standards of your kind, yes. But I have brought the immortal part of you, what you call your soul, I believe? Yes, your soul is here, within me. And thus we can converse.**}}

_Terra wanted to scream. NO! she thought, not so soon! I, I haven't lived long enough! I don't want to die!_

{{**Be calm, Terra. Although your physical body is dead, I brought it to the infirmary. There is currently no one here in the Tower but us, and I confess I do not know how to operate the machines here. But do not fret. I can heal your physical body, and then restore your soul to that body. You will live again. So. Do not worry! I will take care of you! Did I not promise I would?**}}

_If Terra could have cried, she would have. Instead, "Where's Beast Boy?" She desperately wanted to see him again._

{{**He is at this moment assisting in the evacuation of some elderly people from a place in the city. Fire threatened their place of living; he and my friend Raven are helping to get the people in there out.**}}

"_I, I just wish he were here…"_

{{**Would you like me to bring him here, to you, this instant?**}}

_Terra struggled to calm herself. "No, Orb, that, that might, I dunno, cause a problem or something. You say I'll be alright, though? You can heal me? Fix me up again?"_

{{**Yes. It will not take long. I can also heal the damage caused by your trauma of two years ago, so that you can once again wield your powers. Would you like that?**}}

"_Yes, yes! But wait….would they still be out of control?"_

{{**That I cannot answer. I can restore you to good health, and heal the damage done to your brain and central nervous system. How you control your powers is not something I can answer.**}}

"_Good enough. Do—do I have to do anything?"_

{{**No. Simply remain calm. Leave the rest to me.**}}

"_Th-thank you, Orb. I, I really want to, to be with Garfield, and, and…you know, have a family with him." The images that flashed through her mind were fascinating to the Orb: her and Beast Boy in their own house, in the suburbs, with a little boy and girl playing outside. _Their_ children. Their __children_…

"Our_ children…" That which was Terra smiled._

{{**Rest, Terra. Sleep. I will take care of you.**}}

"Aw, man. Am I ever tired," Beast Boy moaned as he and Raven made their way back to the Tower. "Pterodactyl form's good for carrying people, but there were so many…."

Cyborg grunted. "Know what you mean. Hope the Tower's unharmed."

Beast Boy's eyes widened. "Oh, gosh! I like totally forgot to check on Terra! I-*"

{{**Beast Boy. Raven. Cyborg.**}} They each "heard" the Orb's mental "voice" simultaneously. {{**Come to sick bay. At once.**}} Beast Boy practically broke the sound barrier getting there.

Once there, they were confronted with a spectacle that almost stopped Beast Boy's heart: Terra, _his_ Terra, was completely enveloped in the Orb's strange substance. They could see her, but she seemed to be floating, suspended, in some dark liquid. "Orb, what….?"

{{**Please do not be alarmed. While you were gone, Terra had a brain aneurism. Her brain and body essentially stopped working. I am healing her, but the process will take some time.**}}

Beast Boy sank to his knees, and put his face in his hands, tears flowing down his face. "Please, God, don't take her from me. Please. I'll, I'll do anything. Anything at all." Raven knelt by him, comforting him as best as she could.

{{**Beast Boy. Do not be alarmed. While what she has gone through is significant, by your standards, I can heal her. And restore her to you. In one hour's time, she will be fine. You do not need to worry.**}}

"Th-thanks, Orb. I owe ya. _Big_ time."

Hank Jones was eating with Robin and Starfire in the Watchtower's commissary when Robin's T-cell went off. "Yes, Raven? What? Is she alright? It is? I didn't know it could do that. Oh, okay. Who's there now? He is? How's he taking it? Well, yeah, I know he's a basket case, but…okay. Yeah, we got some info. I'll tell you what I can as soon as I can. You sure Beast Boy's alright? Right. Just stay with him. Robin out." He closed the cell. "That was Raven. Seems Terra had a stroke or something. The Orb's healing her, but you can imagine how Beast Boy's taking it."

"A stroke? Robin, what is…?" Starfire wasn't familiar with the word used like that.

"It's pretty serious, Star. Burst blood vessel in the brain. But the Orb assures them she'll be alright. I guess," he paused, a lopsided grin forming on his face, "I guess if you can't trust your friendly neighborhood protean god-like being-from-outside-space-and-time, who can you trust?

"But maybe we'd better wrap up here and get back, if, for no other reason, to keep Garfield together. And to check on Terra." He pressed his lips together. _I know if it were me, and Starfire was the one on the table, no force in creation—or outside it-could keep me from her side._

_To be continued_


	18. Chapter 18: Questions

_And here's chapter 18. Maybe this is an AU or something….see what you think. As before, I don't own, you know the drill. Please read and review, and thank you all!_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 18: Questions.

"Tara? Honey? Are you sure you're up to this?" Tara's mother hovered over her like a cloud as she was being discharged, a fragile smile on her lips. She looked like she was one-half step from a breakdown.

"Mom, I'm alright. The doctors and nurses have all been super. I, I guess I just either fainted or fell and hit my head." The nurse was getting her situated in the wheelchair, ready to take her outside to where her father was bringing the minivan around.

"Well, you definitely need to, at the very least, get that nice Beast Boy a thank-you card or something. I mean, this is what, twice?—now he's saved your life. In fact, why don't you invite him over for dinner sometime? I mean…."

"_Mom!_ Please! I'll, I'll do something nice for him, I promise, but _pleeeze_ don't go embarrassing me, I'm _begging_ you!"

Her mother cast a sly glance at her. "You kinda like him, don't you?" Tara just blushed. "Is he, by any chance, the one you were talking about, the other day, the one who's 'super nice'?" Again, Tara didn't say anything. But she didn't have to, of course.

Raven found Beast Boy sitting in the window, overlooking the bay, sitting with his hands clasped over one knee. Wordlessly, she came and sat on the other side of the window. For a long time, there was silence between them; not an awkward silence, but the silence of two friends comfortable enough around each other to forgo small talk.

Finally, he spoke. "She got upset over something today."

"Yes."

Silence.

"Two years. Everything before that is cloudy."

Again, silence.

Then, "Two years ago, my Terra was with Slade. It was her first time. I'm sure he helped her clean up. Even Slade couldn't be that much of a jerk." Still looking out over the bay.

More silence. Then, "She looks like Terra, sounds like Terra, her name's _almost_ Terra. And today. She got upset over something. And the earth shook."

Finally, Raven spoke. "So, Garfield. What are we going to do?" He looked at her with wordless love. So many other people would've said, what're _you_ going to do? Not Raven. Raven had his back. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Then, "I don't know. She's been around for at least two years now, and this was the first temblor. Or was it the first? We don't know, do we?

"But in any case, what _can_ we do? I mean…." He floundered helplessly for the words.

"We'll work on it. Meanwhile, the Orb is saying she'll be coming out in a few minutes. Let's go see her, okay?"

Terra was in sickbay when Beast Boy and Raven entered. There was no sign of the Orb. Terra lay, fully clothed, on the hospital-style bed. She turned when they entered. "Hey." She was still pretty weak.

Beast Boy wordlessly gathered her in his arms, and cried unashamedly. After a moment, she joined him.

That night, after Cyborg had given her the all-clear, they prepared for bed. She snuggled into his chest, like always. "Terra?" he said, "We have to talk."

She looked up at him, her face a question mark, and he related the experience at lunch with her. "So she looks like you, walks and talks like you, and…..when she got upset, that's when the earthquake hit. And that was the same time you had that aneurism. Wasn't it?"

She bit her lip. It was a lot to take in. "It—it has to've been. Yeah, that was the time, alright."

"Terra….There's no way all that's just coincidence. I mean, yeah, I could see somebody looking like you. They say everybody's got a double somewhere. But…she's apparently got powers like yours."

"But, but _how?_ I mean…"

"Terra…I know you don't like to think about this, but…when you were with Slade, and, and it was your first time…he helped you kinda clean up, right?"

"Y-yes…" She frowned.

"Did you actually _see_ him throw away the, the napkins or whatever he used?"

"No." She was silent for a long time. "So…you're thinking maybe a clone? I thought those weren't stable, not in Earth's environment."

"Maybe Slade found a way. Somebody will, sooner or later. And, and I can't help but wonder: if it is true, and she's your clone…..are there others?"

"Gar, when I turned thirteen is when it started. I'd lose it or something, and wham. It wasn't anything like an earthquake, not at first, but…."

"Yeah. So something's been inhibiting her powers all this time. That's assuming she was force-grown two years ago. We have to take this up with the others. Robin'll know what to do."

"Beast Boy…if she's me…."

He raised her chin up to look at her. "Terra. She's not you. She may be a genetic copy of you, but she's not the girl I took to the amusement park. She's not the girl I took to the movies, and shopping." And here he raised her up to be level with his gaze. "And she's not the girl I'm holding here in my arms, in my bed. She's not the girl I love." And he kissed her. "But there is a huge concern. Evidently, her usage of her powers seems to, I dunno, trigger a feedback response in you. I almost lost you today. That isn't happening anymore. I don't care what it takes, but it just isn't."

"The Orb said it restored my powers, that I'd suffered some kinda trauma two years ago, when I stopped the volcano. So I should have my powers back. But…I don't know about control. You know that was always a problem for me."

"That's one we can work on. And yeah, it's good you got your powers back, I mean, it is if you _wanted_ 'em back. Control…we can work on that. If Slade can teach you control, I _know _we can. But right now, that's of secondary importance. You, and your life, come first. To me."

She snuggled into him, burying her face against his chest, hiding her face from a future that seemed suddenly uncertain. "I—I guess we'll have to see what the others say."

….

Breakfast at Titans' Tower: Starfire and Robin had returned from escorting Hank/Omega to the Watchtower, and filled everyone in on the results.

"So this probe is supposed to be a world killer, a doomsday machine?" Cyborg asked around a mouthful of sausage.

"World killer, definitely," Hank forked another bite of scrambled eggs into his mouth. "I don't know about the Doomsday Machine part. From what I've gathered from my soul-brother, it doesn't have to be. Doomsday devices were created, if I'm not mistaken, so that it destroys both sides in a war? This isn't for that. No, it's got a definite _purpose_ to it. I get the feeling it's a constructive purpose of some sort…"

"Constructive? That much positronium?"

"Think bulldozer. Dangerous if you get in front. But used in construction. But it's not a war machine, not a weapon, not precisely. O'course, the end result may be the same, for us."

"These Osirans…" Cyborg toyed with his food. "Why would they make something like this?"

"You have to remember, we're talking about a people who engaged in warfare pretty continuously, for maybe thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years. And their tech was pretty high-end…in fact, from what Omega's telling me now, you wouldn't want to see what they'd call a _real_ doomsday weapon. I mean that _literally. _It'd be dangerous just to _see_ it."

"Not the best of neighbors, huh?"

"Not so much."

"Okay." Robin spoke up. "It's the League's affair, until and unless it turns out we're needed for something. Right now, we've another matter that concerns us a bit more directly. Beast Boy? You want to tell us what's going on, you think?"

Beast Boy leaned back. "Yeah, Rob." He reached over and took Terra's hand. And he related to them the incidents, the curious resemblance of Tara Zharkov to Terra Markov, his growing suspicions, and the incidents at lunch yesterday, Tara's apparent inability to remember anything past two years ago…. "And I don't see how all that's coincidence."

The others were silent for a moment. Then Robin spoke up. "Well, I can do some checking up on this Professor Zharkov at the university, find out some more history about him…and his daughter. But you're right: if she _is_ a clone, she's overdue for a catastrophe. Some other factor must be at work. I'll have to find out what.

"But legally, it's a sticky situation. We can't very well just go up to her parents and tell them their daughter's a clone of a meta. In the first place, if she _is_ a clone, they probably already know it. They may even be in on it, somehow. Secondly, there's no legal mechanism for sequestering people on the basis of what they _might_ do. I wouldn't want to live in a country where you could do that.

"But this feedback issue worries me. Terra? Is there anything we can do to protect you from that?"

Terra squirmed in her chair. "I, I don't know what. I mean, before yesterday, it, it wasn't an issue. And the Orb said it restored my powers…I haven't had the chance to test that, yet, but…"

"Maybe we need the Orb's input. Raven?"

"Yes?"

"Can you talk to the Orb, see what it can tell us about this…situation?"

"Of course, I-*"

{{**I am here, Robin. Ask. I will answer.**}}

Robin looked around. The Orb was not in evidence; it was probably still in its room. But evidently it had the capability to eavesdrop. He was wondering whether or not his offer to it, to let it come there, to the Tower, had been all that wise a decision. "Alright. Orb. What can you tell us about Terra and Tara? Is what happened yesterday likely to happen again?"

{{**That exact event? No. It will not happen again, not that same way. Terra suffered a sort of a stroke when she stopped the volcano, two years ago. The part of her brain that controls that aspect of her being was damaged by the effort she put into it. That is why she was unable to use her powers before. I have repaired that. But the girl known as 'Tara' uses a very similar…. means ….to accomplish the same ends. So similar, in fact, that the process caused a feedback response in Terra, as you surmised.**}}

"Is Tara a clone?"

{{**I do not know.**}}

"You don't know? Can't you, like, tell from their genetic makeup?"

{{**It is not quite that simple. Yes, there seems to be a strong similarity, but I cannot say by which process she was created.**}}

"But she has powers like Terra's? That much is certain?"

{{**Yes. The mechanism is similar.**}}

"And you say what happened yesterday won't repeat itself?"

{{**Correct. Terra's brain was traumatized earlier, when she fought the volcano's force. It caused a mild…contusion? I believe the word is. I have repaired that, and the mechanism by which Tara manipulates the earth is sufficiently different that there should be no further interaction problems in that area. However…..**}}

"Yes, Orb?"

{{**Should one of them endeavor to block the other one's actions, in an indirect way, the resulting stress will be felt by both. As to the outcome of that, I cannot venture a guess.**}}

"I see….like two people wrestling over a weapon or something….one could get hurt."

{{**Exactly.**}}

"Okay. Well, now we know where we stand. I'll look into Professor Zharkov. Raven, you talk to the Orb, see if you can't get anything more concrete out of it. Anything else? Hank?"

"Yes. I'd like to stick around, if you don't mind. See this thing through."

"It could be dangerous…."

"I'd still like to hang around. And I'm already involved. Besides. You might need my alter ego."

"That's true. Very well. Cyborg? I've a special task for you. I want you to devise a special exercise routine for Terra. If she's going to have powers again, the thing to do is to learn control of them. See if you can't come up with something, okay? Terra, Beast Boy, you both okay with that?" They both nodded, while Cyborg looked pensive, already mulling over ideas in his head. "Starfire? You and I have some investigating to do. Of a certain Professor."

"Hey, what about me?" Hank asked.

Robin smiled. "I've got a very special mission for you, Hank, one you are uniquely suited for…."

_To be continued…_


	19. Chapter 19: Progress

_Now things start heating up, in some cases, literally. Please read and review. Enjoy!_

_I don't own, uh huh, you know._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 19: Progress

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_The probe drifted in orbit around the third planet. It had already satisfied itself that this world, at least, met the criteria its ancient Masters had programmed it to look for. And, even better, there were enhanced power beings in evidence on its surface. It would definitely do._

_Currently, the beings were attaching primitive rocket units to its outer surface. They would not pose a hindrance to its mission._

_It cast about with its senses. It really needed one of the smaller gas giants for its next phase, but it would have to settle for the anomaly, the second planet out from the sun._

_Down on Earth, in his lair, Slade's alarms went off. The probe was taking some form of unauthorized action. He issued a command for it to cease and explain…_

…_only to have said command completely ignored. His eye widened as his connection to the probe was severed. He attempted to re-establish contact with it, only to have his recognition codes go unanswered. But he was prepared, or thought he was. He reissued the commands, waited…and nothing happened. He was locked out._

_Sighing, he regretfully issued a command to initiate a "shutdown and scuttle" procedure, a last resort feature he'd installed in it earlier. It was regrettable that so much would be lost…._

_Nothing happened. Slade's single eye widened further when his own computers began to go haywire; something was infecting them, despite the safety precautions hardwired into them. He watched, helplessly, as the programs on his own hard drives were overwritten, and other, completely unrecognizable programs were installed. He'd thought himself master of the probe._

_He'd been wrong._

_For that matter….he could hear his own automatic machinery beginning to activate, to come to unauthorized life. He was no longer master even in his own domain._

_Time to go. Such a pity. But, deep within, in the core of his being, beneath his own superb self-control, he couldn't help but feel a touch of fear: what was the probe about to do?_

_What, so to speak, had he brought here?_

"Superman? We're getting readings from the probe. Something's activated. How goes the emplacement?"

"Almost done. We've got enough boosters strapped to the thing to send it pretty much anywhere in the solar system." Kal-El stopped and took stock of the situation. He was one of a few who didn't need a space suit to work on the probe, plus he was one of the more mobile agents, here in space. "Hal? Is everything ready on your end?"

"As ready as it's gonna get. We can hit the ignition button anytime."

"Let's get everybody away from it and do just that. We can come back later, maybe, see if there's anything we can salvage from it."

They withdrew, all personnel jetting, flying, or in some way transporting themselves back into the Watchtower. Hawkgirl was at the controls. "So…everybody all clear? Okay. Goodbye, probe." She began the countdown to ignition. "5…

"4…"

"3…"

"2…"

"1." She hit the ignition.

On the probe, the rocket boosters flared. In space, there was no air to make the combustion process visible, but sensors nonetheless showed the superheated gases flowing from their exhaust vents.

The probe didn't move.

Shayera frowned. "Increasing thrust." Still no sign of the expected movement of the probe. "I know it's big, but it should still be doing _some_thing.." She increased the thrust further. Still nothing. "Batman?"

Batman's eyes narrowed. "All the way." She increased the thrust of the units attached to it to their maximum. "What's it doing?"

"We're getting readings from it, from that hollow cavity. But it's not moving. It should have moved some by now."

Alarms whooped as the probe began to move, but not in the direction the boosters were pointing it. "Batman! It's moving, but it's not us doing it!"

"Which way is it heading? And what do those readings of its interior show?"

"Inward, towards the sun. And, and….mygod. These readings…Batman…"

The Dark Knight tensed. "It's powering up."

_The probe moved inward towards the second planet of this solar system. It had already determined that there was no life there, nor would there be, with an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. It should do nicely._

_Had the probe been asked, and, if it had had the sort of intelligence to answer, it might have defended itself. It had previously "told" the Slade-entity that it had no weapons. That was true. It had no weapons. It needed no weapons. _

_It had TOOLS._

…

The Zharkovs had just settled down to eat when the doorbell rang. Tara's father answered it, a little annoyed at the interruption.

"I'm sorry, sir, did you call for service on your cable?" Hank Jones, attired in a standard cable TV workers' coverall and sporting the name "James" on his shirt pocket, checked his notepad.

"Uhm. Not sure. Hang on a sec. Sharon? Did anybody here call for cable tech support?"

"Oh, yes, but that was Friday. Our cable's been messing up something awful…"

"Sorry, ma'am, we've been kinda stretched thin. The earthquake and all. May I take a look at your setup?"

"Well, we're just about to eat…"

Hank looked apologetic. "I'm terribly sorry, ma'am. I suppose I could come back in a few, if you'd like."

"No, no, I know you have other customers, and we DO need something done. Come in, come in. It's right this way…" And she led him into the family's TV room. Fortunately, Hank _did_ know his way around cable installation, having dealt with field communications in Afghanistan. Plus, he'd been briefed on the usual fix-it solutions…

"I see the problem. You've a loose connection here. Let me see, these are standard coax connections, I oughtta have some of 'em in the truck….terribly sorry about interrupting your dinner, ma'am." He went back out to the truck, which was a real cable truck, found the connector, and came back in and installed it. "Have you guys up and running inna jiffy." He ran a few tests; everything checked out. "There you go. Now, if you'll just sign here, I'm done." Professor Zharkov signed the form and dismissed him.

Once back in the truck, Hank backed out, drove around the block, and picked up the _real_ cable repairman, slipping him a bill. "Easiest two hundred I've ever made," chuckled the repairman to himself, as Hank drove off in his car, parked out of sight.

Back at the Zharkov's, the nanobots Hank had planted installed themselves in the phone system, the internet service, and several other places. He'd only needed access to the house; the 'bots were programmed to install themselves where needed.

Hank picked up his communicator, a T-cell Robin had given him. "Robin? How's it look?"

"_Getting a good strong signal. Give 'em a few minutes to get comfy and we'll see what we can see."_

Back at Titans' Tower, Robin frowned at the results. What they'd just done was, of course, totally illegal, and he felt bad about getting Hank mixed up in it, but, aside from himself, Hank was the only one there who _could_ pass as a civilian. Or even as a normal human being. Plus, he was not a known associate of the Titans,' so he had the advantage of being anonymous.

Robin smiled. Not _yet_ a known associate of the Titans. He had a hunch that would change….that might make Raven happy. Robin hadn't missed the way she looked at Hank, how she'd always somehow managed to be around when he was present, the little gestures she so desperately tried to hide. Raven was a very, very private person, but if anybody could get through to her….

He had a hunch it'd be worth it. He just hoped Hank was up for it.

He turned his attention to the bugs they'd planted.

_Male voice: "Well, at least I'll get to see 'Two and a Half Men' tonight."_

_Female voice, older, not Tara:"I never did see what you saw in that show. It's silly."_

"_Of course it's silly. That's why I like it."_

_Pause. Then the female voice asked, "Tara? You're awfully quiet tonight. Thinking about someone?" There was a hint of amusement in her tone._

"_No, mom. Just…thinking."_

_Male voice: "What's this? Some new boy at school's caught my little princess's eye?"_

_Tara's voice, her discomfort evident. "No, dad. Well, yeah, but no. I mean…he's not exactly at school."_

_Older female voice: "I think our little girl's got her eye on a certain green superhero, Todd."_

_Male voice: "Really? Hmmm. Somehow I don't think you're talking about the Incredible Hulk, huh? That's what I figured. Well, it's like I always say: if you're gonna dream, dream big. Does he seem interested?"_

"_No, dad, he doesn't. And, and I'm not, not, y'know, really…."_

"_Tara…it's okay. You're at that age. Why, when I was your age, I had such a crush on Wonder Woman…you needn't look that way, Sharon. I found my own wonderful woman, didn't I? And hey: you've at least gotten to meet him. That's something, all by itself. But what makes you think he's not interested?"_

"_Well, I mean, I've met him now for, well, twice, and he hasn't said anything about, y'know, going out or anything. And, and…another thing. I, I think I resemble someone he used to know, someone he used to be in love with. It sorta hampers things…"_

"_Really? Who?"_

"_Some girl named Terra. I think she died or something. But everybody keeps mistaking me for her. But I don't want him to go out with me just because I happen to look like her. I want him to go out with me because of __me__, not because of an accidental resemblance.."_

"_That's my girl. Well, if he doesn't come around, he's certainly gonna be the worse off for it. You likely to see him anymore?"_

"_I don't know. I wasn't planning any of those other times; it just happened."_

"_Well, don't get your hopes up, is all I can say. If not him, then some lucky guy will come along."_

_Female voice, older: "Honey, don't forget your medicine this time. You forgot, the other day. I noticed you were one pill off."_

"_Oh, okay, Mom. I guess I just forgot. I'll be sure and take it tomorrow morning."_ Hmm, thought Robin, miles away. Wonder what this medicine is for, anyway? He made a mental note to hack into the various pharmacies' systems and check for anything for a "Tara Zharkov."

_Meanwhile…._

"Okay," began Cyborg, "Here's the way it works: simple course outline. No time limit or anything like that. All you haveta do is, move that pile of dirt from there…" he pointed,"…to here. Think you can handle that?"

Terra looked at the course. It was baby stuff, of course, but nobody was trying to get her combat ready today. This was just basic exercise. "Okay. Here goes…" She concentrated….

…and the dirt pile, rather than being picked up as a whole, _flowed_ through the air like water, to the designated spot. She sighed. This was gonna take some practice..

….

_The probe had reached its destination, in range of the second planet. Within it, subatomic synapses closed, while others opened. Containment fields came into being in its center; positronium wormholed into place and obliterating itself, more brought in as needed, the coherent gamma rays building up. It was nothing fancy, only a simple gamma ray laser, but it was a gamma ray laser powered by the complete annihilation of matter. The energies of a large star were brought into play in an area less than sixty earthly miles across._

On board the Watchtower, the assembled heroes watched helplessly as the probe brought its energies into play. The beam wasn't visible, at least not to most of them, but between it and Venus a string of sparkles lit up, like a ray of sunshine lighting up dust particles in a dim room: stray matter caught in the beam.

Venus' outer atmosphere ignited, exploding as if a miniature star had gone nova. The outer atmospheric shell detonated, becoming an expanding cloud of plasma as Earth's sister planet writhed beneath the beam. And still the probe increased the power.

The beam chewed into the rock of the planet itself, detonating the matter it contacted with nuclear force.

In the confusion, as what _used_ to be Venus' outer atmosphere expanded outward towards Earth, no one noticed the probe firing three salvos consisting of seven projectiles each, which rode the plasma wave, outwards towards Earth.

Onward and inward raged the laser, finally punching its way completely through the planet, and setting off secondary firestorms from that side. Only when nothing remained of the second planet but a mammoth cinder, pierced through the middle like a pimento in a titanic olive, did the probe finally stop.

As the plasma cloud dispersed, and instruments too delicate to register during the violence of the destruction came back online, what was left of Venus became visible, a blackened spheroid, shot through with cracks of red. There was no longer any trace of Venus' toxic atmosphere, and for the first time in history, humanity was able to see the second planet's surface, unaided by filters or special cameras.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

_Continued…._


	20. Chapter 20: Memories

_And here's chapter 20. Please read and review. Thank you!_

_I don't own, you know. _

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 20: Memories

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Interlude 1:_

Cletus O'Neil was a patient man, and that was needed on the small acreage of land he farmed. The land was poor, poor. What grew one year generally didn't grow the next.

As he went out that morning, preparing to see how the soil tested, and thus determining what to plant for this year, he took a brief look at the sun. No real reason; he'd always been a morning person, and a bright, cheerful sun always lifted his spirits. Had anyone asked him, he would've made some remark about how his crops depended upon good sunshine, and so excused himself from having to admit that, in his heart, he simply liked the sunshine for its aesthetic value alone.

Riding around over his property in his four-wheeler, he noticed something odd. Over there, towards the river, was a ridge of fresh earth. Upon getting closer, he realized it wasn't a simple ridge, so much as circle of earth, a ring of dirt around a central spot.

What could it be? He moved a little closer, sitting far up in the four-wheeler in an effort to see what it was. It almost looked like a crater…but, no, if something had come down hard enough to make a crater, he'd have heard something, surely. He wasn't _that_ heavy a sleeper. Especially ever since….but he didn't let himself think about that. He sighed. Edna was in a better place now. Maybe he'd see her soon.

If he'd known just _how_ soon, though, he might've done a few things a little differently.

He got out of the vehicle to inspect this strange circular ridge. There was, he noted a central spot where the ground dipped down lower than the rest, just like those craters of the moon he'd seen on TV. However, unlike them, there were also several straight, raised ridges radiating from it, almost like mole hills. But what made his eyes widen was the sheer _size_ of the hills; if they were mole hills, the moles must be at least three feet long each. He moved carefully to investigate; it wouldn't do to fall into one and break his leg, not here, so far away from help.

One circular ridge, just like a crater, and seven secondary ridges radiating from the center straight out towards the edge of the—there could be little doubt now—crater. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stir as he realized that this could only mean that _something_ had come down in the meteor or whatever it had been; something that had lived, and not only survived the crash, but had escaped the meteor and was even now…..

Where? Where could it have gone? And, and, what was it?

He backed away, trying to look in all directions at once, stumbling only once as he made it to his vehicle. Gunned the motor and headed back to his house at a rapid clip.

Back at the farmhouse, he hastily called the local sheriff's office. Cletus was one of a vanishing breed who either didn't have or didn't trust cell phones. He had one, but he never bothered to carry it, and didn't use it except under extreme circumstances.

There was no dial tone. He stared at the handset for a minute in disbelief. But, his rational mind reminded him, sometimes the lines went down. Nothing to be alarmed about….

He rummaged around and found his cell phone, then realized that, since he hardly ever used it, there were no minutes stored on it. So he dialed 911, and hoped…..

No answer. He'd never dialed 911 from any phone before, so he was uncertain if this was normal or not, but he suspected it wasn't.

He went into the bedroom….and became aware of something he'd felt, but hadn't paid a lot of attention to, before.

Cletus had lived alone for eight years, since the death of his wife. In that time, he'd become familiar with being alone, and, to a degree, comfortable with it. He knew the "feel" of his house, when he was the only one present, and had come to take it for granted.

He wasn't alone in his house, anymore. He could never have said just what was different, but some sixth sense told him he wasn't the only one present here.

He got his shotgun from its place, behind the bed. Turning around, he surveyed the empty room. "Who's there? I know somebody's here. Who are you? Where are you?"

There was no response.

He went into the living room, where his Magnavox TV was ready to be turned on, ready to show the nightly news. Carefully, he examined each dark corner, shotgun ready. "Who's here? Come on out, now. I ain't mad or nothin'. Just don't hide from me. Makes me nervous." For a long moment, he entertained the notion that maybe he'd let his imagination run away with him, and that there was no one here….

A figure stepped out from behind the couch. Cletus squinted at it, unable to see well in the dimly lit room.

It was no more than four feet tall, with a large rounded head and extremely large, staring deep black eyes. It was built very slightly, almost willowy, seeming rather fragile to him. He noted the hands were empty, but seemed oversized for the thing's height, with extremely long fingers dangling nearly to the floor. In the dimness of the room, he could tell it was awfully pale-looking, and was wearing a loose-fitting outfit more reminiscent of farm coveralls than anything else. He stepped towards it. It was no bigger than a child, and, for a moment, he wondered if maybe one of the neighbor's children had sneaked in and was playing a trick on him, like an early Halloween. "Hello? Who—who are you? How'd you get in here?"

The figure made no reply, but simply stood there, looking at him with complete calm. He stepped closer, hoping to recognize one of the Barksdale's offspring, but, now that his eyes were adjusting to the gloom, he really doubted that. "Hello? Who are you?" There was no reply. "Ain't you one of the Keefer's kids? What're you doin' way over here?" Still no reply, and he moved in closer. It didn't really look like a child, but his mind was seeking to interpret what he saw in terms of what he knew, the familiar. It was no larger than a child, so surely it must be someone's kid. Yeah, that was it. Surely…

He moved closer, to get a better look, when something extremely heavy smashed him to the ground. He barely had time to be surprised when this world faded out….

The three immature Thinkers were Linked, of course. The first one gave the body of the farmer a cursory examination, and turned a look of undisguised disgust on the second. {{Stupid. You used too much force. The being is dead. Now we will learn little.}}

{{Apologies. These beings are extremely delicate. I abase myself.}}

{{And well you should. But there is no help for it now.}} The leader turned to the third one. {{Are you in contact with the base?}}

{{Affirmative.}}

{{Take this body there, and conduct a thorough examination. We will need much more information regarding these beings if we are to interact with them in any productive manner.}}

{{I comply.}} The third Thinker motioned to the second, picked up the body as easily as if it were a pillow, and, moving into the next room, activated a switch on his sleeve. The leader paid them no attention. _Now,_ he thought, _where can we find a live one?_ He moved over to the dusty end table and examined the objects there. One of them intrigued him: it depicted an Earth male and female together on a large watercraft, holding hands. It was obvious to the leader that the male in the picture was a younger version of the male they'd just encountered, the one they'd just killed. Obviously, this was some form of memento, an aid to recollection for the male. They had already examined the rest of the house; no-one else lived here, and had not, for a long time.

Which was odd. What had happened to the female? Had she perhaps been a casualty in some great battle, long past? Or was she no longer present for more mundane reasons? Why did the male keep her picture in his abode? What could their relationship have been?

Perhaps she'd been a great warrior, or leader in some way, and the male kept her picture close at hand in order to inspire himself anew when times and life became harsh. That made sense.

The leader ran his long, supple, oversized fingers over the picture and frame. Although it was not his specialty, he could nonetheless detect glimmers of emotions from the picture. Evidently, the male had regarded this picture as a memento of a _good time_, yet had also regarded it with much sadness. The leader sighed, almost inaudibly; a surprisingly human gesture. These beings were obviously very complicated. So much they could have learned, had not that clumsy oaf killed their only living specimen.

Well. Perhaps there'd be others.

He turned to go, but stopped. He'd replaced the picture back on the small table by the overstuffed recliner that had clearly been the male's favorite haunt. But it was canted at a slight angle to the way he'd found it. The leader stared at the black-and-white representations of the two in the picture. There was some meaning there, that he was missing. It bothered him, obscurely, an itch that wouldn't go away.

There was no logical reason why it should be left in any position other than the way the male had left it. So he reached out with his long fingers and tilted the picture slightly towards the high-backed recliner that would now wait for its owner to return for all eternity.

_End of interlude 1_

_To be continued._


	21. Chapter 21: Rebirth

_Chapter 21_

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 21: Rebirth

It had been three days since the destruction of Venus. In that time, all the various heroes—and even the villains—had been made aware of the probe and its capabilities. This was a crisis that transcended morality or even personal interest; it was of concern to _everyone_.

The Justice League had brought in the big guns, literally. It had been determined that the probe's shielding was such that even Superman's great strength would be useless, so the decision was made to use Kryptonian technology against it.

The weapon was a typical Phantom Zone projector, modified radically. Instead of producing a broad beam, capable of sending individuals into that alternate universe, it was designed to emit a thin, laser-like beam of dimensional displacement. The idea was to use it as a cutting torch, to gain entry into the probe, as nothing else seemed to be working.

The probe, meanwhile, had made no further moves.

The modified projector was placed in a small, one-man vehicle for transport to the probe. Superman sat at the controls, in constant communication with the Watchtower. It was open to space, as he needed no suit.

"Approaching now," he spoke into his throat-mike, the vibrations of his voice carried into the communications device by direct induction, there being no air in space to carry sound. "The probe doesn't appear to've moved. I can't detect any change in its status. What do you read?"

"_The same. It appears totally quiet, for now, at least. No evidence of power-ups."_

"Well, let's see what we can see." He activated the modified projector, using a laser targeting system to guide the otherwise invisible beam.

He could clearly see a spot on the probe's hull where the laser was aimed. The projector was aligned to the laser, so the displacement beam should be hitting the same spot.

Nothing happened.

Superman frowned, turning a dial and increasing the power being fed into the beam. The red pinpoint remained where it was….but there was no other effect. "Oh, come _on."_ He was, frankly, becoming a bit exasperated with this probe, or whatever it was. Surely, _some_thing had to work!

However, maximum power produced no more result than any other setting. "Superman to Watchtower. It's looking like this is a no-go, too. I don't see any effect at all."

"_We copy. Uh, Superman? We're getting a call. Someone wants to talk to you."_

"Can it wait? I'm a little busy here…"

"_It's from Lex Luthor."_

Superman didn't swear, but he was tempted. Then he sighed. "Patch him through."

"_Superman. I've been noticing you're having a bit of difficulty with the alien probe."_

Superman gritted his teeth. "Yes, Lex, you could say that."

"_I have an idea. Have you tried communicating with the probe?"_

"Yes, Lex. Numerous times. We didn't even get a dial tone."

"_It may utilize some means of communication completely alien to us. Or, conversely, it may not be equipped to communicate at all. However, something I've been working on may help…"_

"Why, Lex?"

"_Excuse me?"_

"Why are you doing this?"

"_Why shouldn't I? I've no more desire to see the Earth roasted like a marshmallow on a stick than you do. After all, I do live here. Rest assured, it's purely self-interest in action."_

"Alright. Truce 'till this is over?"

"_Truce. You've my word."_ Superman was impressed in spite of himself. While there was no love lost between him and Lex Luthor, he had to admit one thing: Luthor was a man of his word. Once he gave it, he stuck by it, even to the point of jeopardizing his own safety. "So what do you need from us, Lex?"

…..

The thing Lex Luthor most required from the Justice League was patience, and to a certain degree, trust. Not ten minutes after his conversation with Superman, Watchtower sensors detected a courier torpedo head straight for them. Sensors indicated that it was unmanned.

Its contents consisted of primarily a dizzying variety of info-cubes, with data in a format compatible with the standard Justice League system. Batman found that to be just a tad ominous, but a matter for a later time. While he, Superman, and J'onn J'onzz were evaluating the data, Luthor called again. "I presume by this time, you've had a chance to examine my offerings."

"We're in the process of going over them now. Care to give us the cliff's notes version?" Superman had to admit, and had on several occasions, that Lex Luthor was very probably the greatest living genius of the entire human race, maybe the greatest of all time. _If only we weren't on opposite sides of the law,_ he'd thought, sadly, more than once.

"What you're looking at is the formula for the creation of a micro-wormhole. You'll note that it takes considerable power to open, and, once open, is only open in the subatomic range. So its use as a means of transportation is, ahem, limited. But…it can carry data. Have you made any progress on figuring out the probe's mathematical system?"

"No. Is that important?"

"Very. Don't assume they used base 10, like we do. And that brings me to something else I need to mention: during the fireworks, the probe fired off three salvos consisting of seven projectiles apiece. My, ah, associates and I intercepted and destroyed one. But the other two are so far unaccounted for. So you might want to investigate either base 3 or base 7."

"What happened to the other projectiles?"

"To be honest, we don't know. It was only blind luck that allowed us to detect the third. I had thought the probe was being a little too obvious for its own good. There was no reason to destroy Venus. That whole act was orchestrated as a red herring, designed to distract us. We aren't dealing with simpletons here, Kal-El. And, evidently, they're utterly ruthless. The destruction of an entire world simply as a diversion indicates a level of determination that, frankly, I'm uncomfortable sharing a universe with."

"Do you have anything like a course plotted for the other two?"

"Nothing. The violence of Venus' destruction was specifically designed to counter any such efforts on our part. That we caught one was amazing luck. But they seemed to be headed for Earth. So, you-and everyone, for that matter-had best be on our guard. An ounce of paranoia may be worth a ton of cure. I'm sending what other information we have on the destroyed projectiles now. Luthor out."

…..

Cletus O'Neill was dead, and, though he couldn't know it, that was a blessing, as what was left of his mortal clay was currently being dissected one atomic layer at a time. The Thinker in charge of the procedure was the same one who had unintentionally killed him, having accepted a reduction in rank as a disciplinary measure. He was grateful to have gotten off so lightly, and so was determined to make no more mistakes.

Already the body, held in the grip of invisible forces inside of a clear plastoid tube, was stripped down to the muscular system, with the skin, outer nerve, and capillary system network fed into the heavily modified computers at what used to be Slade's old base. Those same computers were inextricably Linked in with the Thinkers, themselves, to the point where the boundaries between the organic and inorganic would be difficult to determine. If they even mattered. Slade probably wouldn't have recognized the place, such was the customization done to it by the Thinkers.

The Thinker—whose designation would roughly translate as "gamma" or "third", had found an anomaly. Evidently, there was a parasitic growth on the human's liver. It wasn't very large yet, but it showed no signs of having been treated. The Thinker shook his oversized head. Such a problem should not have gone untreated, unless the human was unaware of it, which, given the level of their technology, and that said technology was not widely available to all classes, was probably the case. It would have been child's play to simply reverse the specific wild cellular multiplication, had it come to anyone's attention.

That is, it would have been child's play for any _Thinker_. Gamma was acutely aware of the, there was no other word for it, _pathetic_ level of technological and scientific knowledge that appeared to be extant here on this new world they'd found. They were barely out of the fire and stone tools stage. Gamma thought to himself: maybe it wouldn't even be necessary to actually physically conquer this new world, which was good seeing as how communication with the warrior wave had been lost. Gamma was glad he wasn't responsible for that! And there'd been no word on the Lord's wave….the worst was suspected.

The Leader, whose designation might be translated "Alpha," entered the chamber. {{How goes it?}}, he asked through Link. Gamma reported his progress and told him of the cancerous growth he'd found. {{Hm. Yes. These—humans, do they call themselves?—do seem to lack some of the most basic scientific knowledge. And yet, we have seen evidence of much higher, comparatively speaking, technological development. That large orbiting station, for example.}}

{{But it makes no sense, Alpha. If such technology existed, why would it not be made available to all? What would be the point of having abilities one does not fully utilize?}}

{{They are alien. Remember, they are alien. Plus, something called _economics_ may factor into it. Such technology is no doubt expensive, at least by their standards. Not everyone on this world possesses the required resources to access such, to them, expensive things; that, alone, may account for the exclusivity of their disbursal.}} He saw the look on Gamma's face. {{I know, it's unlikely, and somewhat repugnant if true. But the universe is full of many ugly truths, it is safe to say. Who can say? Perhaps we will not _need_ warriors to conquer this new world. Its impoverished masses might fall all over themselves to declare us their new rulers, if we improve the quality of their lives in the manner that we can.}} He paused, something Gamma had noticed he did whenever he was dealing with a truly unpleasant thought. {{And it may well be that certain powerful financial groups do not _want_ the technology supplied to the masses in order to profit from its scarcity. And yes, that thought makes me slightly ill to contemplate, too. But it could easily be reality. If so….we may have to adapt to that, as distasteful as it is.}}

They were silent for a time. Then Gamma essayed a question that had been uppermost in his mind for some time. {{Alpha? What if..what if there are no others? Suppose we are the only survivors from our world? Are we not…incomplete?}}

The Alpha sighed. Gamma was merely reiterating a fear many of them had already expressed. {{Then we will go on, Gamma, as we have. It is not pleasant to contemplate being leaderless, and it would simplify matters enormously if we had warriors to help, but we may have no option but to do the best we can with what we have. It will have to suffice.}} He paused, looking up at some ideal only he could see. {{The Kindred _will_ survive.}}

_To be continued_


	22. Chapter 22: Investigations

_Insert Standard disclaimer here._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 22: Investigations

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Breakfast at Titans' Tower. Robin had received the warning from Batman regarding the projectiles. None of it surprised him; he was actually a little bit relieved. Now they had a better view of where they stood, regarding the matter of the probe. "Looks like you were right, Terra. The probe is a mobile weapons platform, or at least, is consistent with one. Hank's right, too…it may not have been designed as a weapon, but for all intents and purposes, it is one. Question is, what is it gonna do next, and what else _can_ it do?

"And, Cyborg. I need you to be on the alert for any odd or weird stories from the hinterlands. Anything like alien contact, UFOs, mothman, sasquatch, or strange disappearances, what have you. We can only presume those projectiles were some sort of, of seeding mechanism. At the very least, we can assume they weren't designed to do us any good, since they were launched in such a manner as to conceal them from us."

"Already got one for you, Rob," Cyborg handed him a printout. "Local farmer disappears, foul play suspected," he read aloud. He showed him the article regarding one Cletus O'Neill, whose daughter had been trying to reach him for days, only to finally go out there and find….nothing. No trace of the old man. "But note: nothing was taken. There was money lying about-you know how some people just leave it there, on the nightstand or tabletop-but it was untouched. Other valuables, same way. The only thing missing was the old man himself."

"Hm." Robin mused. "It _could_ be nothing. But, yeah, this might also be the very thing we're looking for. I think this calls for some investigation."

...

Robin delegated Raven and Beast Boy to investigate the farmer's disappearance, since they worked together virtually seamlessly in action. Their first action, upon arriving at the deserted farmhouse was a perimeter check. "Raven. Look." Beast Boy was pointing towards the crater Cletus had found earlier.

"I see it, Gar." Raven relaxed and stretched out with her senses, feeling her way through the tangle of emotions: a doe had come by earlier; she could sense the creature's fright at the odd smell it had encountered. But as to the ridges themselves, she could sense….very little.

Beast Boy had morphed into bear form and was currently digging at the central concave area. His paws hit something hard and sharp, and he grunted at the pain it caused him, morphing back to human form automatically. "Ow!" He sucked on the analogous finger, which was bleeding, somewhat.

"Here, Gar, let me look at it." She wrapped it with a bandage she had in her cloak. "You may need a tetanus shot…."

"Never have before. One of the advantages of having such an unstable genetic structure: most germs and toxins can't get a toehold, so to speak."

They turned their attention to the object he'd uncovered. It seemed to be a fragment of what appeared to be a smallish ballistic shell, which proved to be unreasonable heavy. "Looks like we have some evidence of Osiran activity, Rae," he grunted, trying to shift the heavy shard in human form, "No way this is any earthly metal. You think?"

They moved to the farmhouse, which was, to Beast Boy's senses, at least, unnervingly quiet. Raven moved from room to room, senses out, spells ready.

There was a hardcover book on the stand beside the chair in the living room, its pages yellowed with age; it was open to a certain passage. Bibliophile that she was, Raven glanced at it; something about a young boy watching some birds. A woman's wedding band was balanced upright between the pages, apparently as a place holder. Raven stretched forth her senses, trying to psychometrically sense the last emotional impression left on the ring.

Nothing. Whoever had owned this ring had not worn it for a very long time.

"Here, Rae." Beast Boy morphed back from wolf form. "Check this out." He pointed to an area on the floor, between the kitchen and living room.

Raven felt with her senses….at first, nothing, then a sense of apprehension filled her mind. Confusion; whoever had stood here before had been extremely puzzled and not a little afraid; rather odd sensations for one to have in the middle of one's own house. Then, nothing. It was as if the tension had been cut off with a knife.

Garfield had morphed back to wolf form. There was an odd, completely unfamiliar smell present; he couldn't identify it. But there was also one he could: blood. Someone had died on this spot.

Raven and Beast Boy looked at each other.

...

On board the Watchtower, Batman examined the remains of the destroyed probes. Something about the metal—if metal it was; it didn't respond to magnetic fields-was extremely dense and virtually unbreakable; he could only imagine what it took to actually destroy them. Evidently, Luthor's "associates" had packed a considerable punch; he'd have to take that into consideration once the truce was off.

If it was ever called off. The thought sent chills up his spine. It wasn't the first time Earth's heroes and villains had united against an extraterrestrial threat. He only hoped it wouldn't also be the last.

J'onn J'onzz entered the lab. "Have you found anything?"

Batman grunted. "Nothing useful. Can't get this material to react to any of the common reagents. It appears to be completely acid-proof. Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."

"I've been helping Red Tornado and Superman in using the data from Luthor. It may be possible to open a micro-wormhole into the probe, bypassing its defenses altogether. But we have no idea of what to do with it, once we open it."

Batman bit a knuckle. "Hm. Have the computers run a scan of its approach, velocity, and vector up till now. Then run them through algorithms based on a base 3 or base 7 mathematical system. We may be able to deduce the probe's mathematical language from its trajectory."

"What do think we could do with it, once we have it?"

"Ideally, communicate with the probe, tell it to leave, or at least power down. Worst case scenario: perhaps…perhaps we can open many such micro-holes into its interior. Take it out of action by destabilizing it."

"Any word on the projectiles?"

"No. I've some operatives looking into it, but so far, nothing concrete." He sat back, crossing his arms, and sighed, something he rarely did. "I only hope we come up with an approach that works." Although he didn't say it, J'onn J'onzz could tell he was extremely worried. "Something's gotta work."

J'onn J'onzz placed a hand on the Dark Knight's shoulder, he being one of the few living beings from whom Batman would accept such a familiarity. "It will. As you would say, 'have faith.'"

Batman smiled grimly. "And if nothing works?"

"It would be illogical of the probe to destroy the very world to which it sent these biopackages, as we assume them to be, do you not think? So perhaps we are worrying needlessly."

"Maybe." Pause. "Of course, the time might come when we'd wish it had."

...

"So. You're certain O'Neill's dead?" Robin's tone was grim.

"As sure of it as I can be without actually seeing a body." Raven's voice came through over the T-Cell. "The last sense impressions were those of surprise and apprehension. Then, nothing. I believe he was swiftly overpowered and killed outright."

Robin sighed. "His daughter sure won't want to hear that. But we don't have anything else to go on….Hank? Would Omega be of any help in this case?"

"I'll ask." Once again, his eyes got that faraway look. "He's certainly willing. But he says it probably was not the work of warriors. Warriors wouldn't have taken a body. Plus they wouldn't have been so subtle about it."

"So, we're left with either Thinkers or Lords? Which would be worst?"

Hank sighed, his expression one of introspection that Robin had come to associate with him communicating with Omega. "From what he's telling me, probably the Lords. It seems they had some kind of..of, I dunno, not exactly telepathic power, but, but something that went beyond that. They could make you _want_ to do their bidding. Thinkers wouldn't be good, though."

"What would they be like?"

"Pretty much emotionless biological computing machines. Or at least, that's what I'm getting. They're not quite the born conquerors the Lords would be, but they'd be bad enough. Just ask any frog that's ever been dissected in high school biology lab."

"Hm. Yes. Now for the sixty-four thousand dollar question: where does Omega stand on all this? After all, these might well be his people. Would he stand with us? Or with them?"

Hank looked extremely uncomfortable. "Let me check." He tilted back in his chair, as if to study the light fixtures overhead. A moment that seemed to drag into eternity…"I get the impression he would _want_ to side with us. But, if it's Lords, he might not have a choice."

"Damn. We may've just lost one of our biggest guns. Or at least, we're unsure."

"One wave was destroyed, right?"

"Yeah. We know that much. Only question is, what two castes we are we most likely to be dealing with now?"

Hank frowned. "Worst case scenario…from what Omega's telling me….would be Lords plus warriors. The Lords' mental domination may not be restricted to just Osirans, you know."

"But there's evidence that Thinkers are involved? How bad would it be if was, say, Thinkers plus Lords?"

Hank looked grim. "Not good. Even an Osiran Thinker is many times stronger than the average human. But their primary value is as biological computers. Give 'em just about anything, and they can improve it way past anything we know, or even imagine. And, from what Omega's telling me, they seldom work alone. They have the capacity to somehow Link with other Thinkers, and even, to a degree, with machines of a certain level of sophistication. That raises their level of, of, I guess you'd say, their processing power. Think supercomputers, only with arms and legs."

Now it was Robin's to look bleak. "Supercomputers with superhuman strength, too. Can't count that out."

"So. What's the plan?"

"We need more intel. Can Omega help us in that department?"

"Only one way to find out." Hank stood up, crossing his arms.

...

_Omega carefully approached the now-deserted farmhouse. Already he could tell other Osirans had been there. If it had been the work of one or more Lords, there would already be Domains set up; everyone would know. And if it had been the work of warriors, _he'd_ know. That only left one category._

_He warily opened the old-fashioned screen door, every sense alert. He sensed what Raven and Beast Boy had previously discovered: no living presence, but evidence that someone had been living here; the spoor of blood on the floor telling him not to look for survivors. At least, not human ones._

_He happened to look at the picture on the side table, where Cletus O'Neill had left it. Brushing his fingers along it, he could detect glimmers of emotion: a man and his wife—his other self translated that for him—but also, faint, ever so faint impressions of another mind having been here in the recent past. Not a human one, either. His senses detected the lingering, faint chemical trace consistent with Thinkers._

_He explored the rest of the house. It was as the report went, nothing taken but the human who used to live here. That, he found to be even more indicative of Thinker presence: they'd naturally seek all available information on the new world and especially its dominant species._

_He went back to the crater where the pod had landed. Hm. Evidently, the projectile had been loaded with self-growing and nurturing genetic material. He examined the remains of the projectile. _

_(And was surprised by the _feeling_ that came over him while he handled the fragments of the pod. This, in his hands, felt…_normal. _Whereas Beast Boy could barely lift them, he handled them easily. They reminded him of his past, of the life he'd once known…his world, his kind, his __people__. Were they his people anymore? How could they not be? And yet…he'd vowed to be the champion of these soft ones…and he didn't take such a vow lightly.)_

_A great deal of nothing to report. That, too, was consistent with Thinker mentality. Make the absolute most use out of something that you could. Well, he thought, they wouldn't—they shouldn't—be too hard to locate._

_He scanned around for more projectiles' possible landing points. None were immediately in evidence; either they'd come down much farther off, or the Thinkers inside had hidden such evidence better._

_Flying back to Titans' Tower, he scanned the immediate vicinity for any signs of what Robin would call suspicious activity. Hm. There were several places where his senses were…dampened somewhat, but whether this was due to Thinker activity or some natural occurrence, he couldn't say._

_He was acutely aware of his inability to communicate directly with those he had allied himself. Turning his senses inward, he wondered if it were possible to, to…what? Adapt? Develop what the humans called the power of speech? Perhaps. Or perhaps he could manage to communicate with them in some other way._

_And he wondered. Just what was this "Orb," and how had it done what it apparently did? The notion of a being from outside of space and time was plausible, certainly. If that were the case, then there were no guidelines to go by; anything was possible. And that disturbed him. Perhaps it was time to meet this "Orb."_

"Raven! Watch out!" Raven narrowly missed getting bludgeoned by Cinderblock, on one of the latter's rampages. It seemed the unofficial truce was off, at least for Jump City, and the various foes plaguing it.

Cinderblock roared and swung again. This time, his arm got caught in a ribbon of pure organic muscle: Beast Boy had morphed into an anaconda and, wrapping around the monster's arm and a nearby fire hydrant, briefly hindered his movements.

Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon at the giant's feet. Cinderblock was already unsteady, having had his timing thrown off by Beast Boy's attack. _Crraack—BOOM! _Went the cannon, sending the monolithic menace tumbling into a nearby unoccupied building.

Unfortunately, Cinderblock was made of sterner stuff than the building. Out he came, roaring his displeasure at having had his fun spoiled, only to be met by a flurry of starbolts from Starfire, the force of which actually shoved him back, backward into the rubble of the destroyed building. He grunted, and proved that he was more than just a mindless brute: he threw a dumpster-load of rocks and rubble directly at Starfire.

Starfire, her vision momentarily blinded, caught the wrong end of a roundhouse from Cinderblock, crashing into a building across the street. Cinderblock found himself being pelted with dirt, rocks, pieces of cars, anything Raven could get hold of. Robin, meanwhile, had not been inactive. Realizing that their only hope of defeating the giant lay in tactics, he exploded several gas bombs at Cinderblock's feet, followed by a feint, vaulting over Cinderblock's shoulder, and hitting the monster from behind with several shaped charges…..

_He flew back to the place known as "Jump City." On the way, he scanned ahead, noticing that the others of his adopted group seemed to be having trouble with a creature made of stone. He smiled without humor. At least, here was something he knew how to do._

_Still in mid-air, he curled up into a ball, calculating the necessary moves in his head. He began to roll, head over feet, feet over head, while pulling himself into as compact a ball as he could._

_From three thousand feet, he began to arc downward towards his target. He tried to send some sort of message to the one known as "Raven" informing her of his plan, but couldn't tell if he got through…._

"Titans! Incoming!" Raven yelled as loud as she could, gesturing for the others to move back….

Omega cannonballed down onto Cinderblock's head. Just before impact, he uncurled, straightened out, and focused his momentum into a single, well-placed kick….

….a kick with the force of a dozen piledrivers behind it….

The force of the blow shattered windows for blocks around. Cinderblock was was driven backwards and downwards, his body digging a deep furrow in the narrow street, as he slammed into a construction site, collapsing the half-erected skeleton of the building around him, steel I-beams crashing down on him like an avalanche of iron.

For a moment, the Titans watched, until it became clear that Cinderblock wasn't moving under his own power, and wouldn't, for a while yet. Robin breathed a sigh of relief, looking around for his teammates. Starfire joined them, none the worse for wear from her collision with the storefront. "Robin? Is it time for the 'boo yah'?"

He looked at the scene of destruction. "Yeah, Star, I'd say it's definitely time for a boo yah."

Once Cinderblock had been secured, and conveyed to the nearest facility capable of holding him, Robin went over to talk to Omega. "Thanks, big guy. We couldn't a'done it without you. " He stuck out his hand. Omega hesitated, seemed to think for a minute, then gingerly accepted the offer of a handshake. _He must have to be so very careful,_ thought Robin, _lest he inadvertently hurt someone. _He could only guess at the kind of control the alien warrior must be exercising, just to interact with humans without harming them. Omega simply looked at him, then gestured with his head towards Titans' Tower. "Yeah, Omega, we're right behind you."

Once back at the Tower, Omega made a beeline for the room designated for the Orb. {{**Come in,**}} the entity "said" to him, even before he could signal.

Omega looked at the strange being that was the reason for his being there. {{Can you understand me?}}

{{**Yes. And I sense the question on your mind. I must tell you, yes, it is possible for you to communicate with the humans. But the process will not be easy, or painless. One of the reasons I selected you was because your genetic makeup allows for some variation.}} **Pause.{{**Are you willing to undergo that sort of procedure?**}}

{{I feel I must. It is necessary. I _must_ be able to communicate with them. }}

The Titans were relaxing in the TV room, watching the news, when Omega emerged. He gestured wordlessly for a writing tablet; Cyborg just as wordlessly handed him one. They all looked at each other. What was going on?

On the tablet, Omega wrote: _I have to go away. I will return._ He placed the tablet on the table top, then thought a moment, and wrote _Do not try to follow me._ Then he rose effortlessly through the ceiling as if he were a puff of vapor.

"Hey, everybody," Terra drew their attention away from the vanishing Osiran, "Look. We're on the news." Indeed, the program was showing clips from their recent escapade with Cinderblock. _That was fast,_ thought Robin. They must've had somebody on the scene.

The announcer was just finishing up his release: "_And it seems the Titans have a new member." _The screen showed Omega standing by with the rest of them as the heavy duty lifter trucks hauled the unconscious Cinderblock away. _ "So far nothing is known about this newcomer, but no doubt more will be revealed as press releases come to light."_

Miles away, one of the Thinkers was also watching the news. {{Alpha. You need to be aware of this.}} Since they were Linked, Alpha did not have to move from his spot in another part of the base; the Thinker monitoring the news feed simply sent him the exact image he was seeing, himself. {{Am I…imagining this, Alpha? You do see it, too, do you not?}}

Alpha's eyes widened even further than usual. {{Yes, I perceive it, too, Epsilon. A warrior, here. And not just any warrior, but a warrior _Prime_.}} Invisible to human eyes, the identifying serial marks on Omega's face and hands stood out quite clearly to the Thinkers' vision.

{{I thought they were extinct, that the Lords had exterminated them due to their genetic instability.}}

{{Evidently, such reports were…inaccurate. Or at least misinformed. We will have to take this under consideration. Careful consideration. Summon the Kindred. We must convene.}}


	23. Chapter 23: Changes

_Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 23:_

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Changes

Matt Stephenson had been hunting these Oregon woods for most of his life. Like most people of his acquaintance, he'd become quite good at it. Right now, he wasn't hunting, since the season was off, but just knocking around in the woods. It relaxed him.

There, right over there. He'd found this spot a couple of years ago, where a stream made its way over some rocks, forming a small waterfall. It was one of his favorite spots; the trickling sound of the water going over the falls was better than anything else at soothing him. Plus, he could check on the usual migration patterns, get ready for the hunting season. See what there was to see.

"GRROOWFF! _GRROOWFF!"_

What the hell was that? Some sort of barking roar, or roaring bark. He'd never heard anything like it. It had an involuntary sound to it, and he wondered if something might be hurt, over there where the bushes were thick. Matt knew it wasn't the season for any hunting activity, but some unscrupulous sorts didn't care about that…

He moved his head one way, then the other, triangulating in on the source of the sound. It seemed to be coming from a thicket right over there….

"_GRROOWF! GRROOWF!"_ Whatever it was sounded _big._ Maybe someone had wounded a bear or something? He hesitated; he hadn't brought his gun with him this time. If there was a wounded bear over there, he was at a considerable disadvantage. But it didn't really sound like a bear…

"_GROOWWFF! GRROOWFF!"_ No, it didn't sound like a bear at all….

Matt had bummed around in these woods most of his adult life. He'd heard stories about Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, but had always considered them to be the products of an overheated (and perhaps alcohol-fueled) imagination. But this…sound was not anything he was familiar with. Whatever it was…he didn't think it wise to get too close.

Especially not when the thing in the thicket let loose with a long, ululating howl. It actually hurt his ears, it was so loud. He turned and left by the shortest way, occasionally checking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. In his experience, only the largest, most dangerous animals were this vocal, and whatever this thing was, it sounded distinctly uninhibited.

Omega was in agony. Even the pain of the fusion couldn't compare to this; there was a _wrongness_ to it, something no conditioning had ever prepared him for. His own biology was fighting _itself,_ trying to do something it had never been designed to do. _Control,_ he thought to himself, _I am in control. Pain is pain; it cannot control me. It will pass._ He felt a thickening in his throat, where new organs were being grown. He had considered going to some other planet, but no. His new vocal apparatus would be designed for _this_ atmosphere; he had to accustom himself to it.

He rolled over and over in the bushes, flattening several, fighting the pain. A couple of times, he started to pound on the ground in his agony, but refrained; he didn't know what the area was like, seismically speaking; he could, inadvertently set off an earthquake. As it was, his self-control was being severely tested; that was why he had sought out a spot away from humanity.

Had he been human, he'd have been sweating buckets; instead, he fought for control of his runaway body as best he could. _This will pass. This will pass._ He couldn't sense his Other self, locked away somewhere on time's other side. That would have to wait until later. _"GRROOWWFF!"_ Half cough, half clearing his throat. He held on to the notion, the concept, of being able to actually _communicate_ with the others. And with….. Nevermind. But he _had_ to do this. _Had_ to.

...

The Thinkers had convened, sharing information they'd received or been able to access. These _humans_ had showed remarkable progress, in developing a surprisingly efficient database of information: the internet. They had accessed it liberally, to find out information about their new home.

The Alpha "spoke" up first. {{Very well. What have you learned?}}

One who would be loosely designated as "Epsilon" replied. {{Evidently, the warrior we saw on the news feed is alone. Although there are enhanced power beings on this planet, they are indigenous to the planet, more or less. I find no mention of any sort of being consistent with our own warriors, with, of course, one glaring exception.}}

Alpha looked grim. {{Indeed. Beta, what have you uncovered regarding the Prime series of warriors?}}

Beta squirmed uncomfortably. {{There is not a great deal of information to be had. They were virtually prehistoric. Evidently, the Lords regarded the genotype to be extinct. As such, little information was included in our libraries, in order to make room for more relevant data.}}

{{Curse. Of course, they'd not supply us with information we didn't need. Except it turns out we do. There are no reports of other warriors, _our_ warriors, on any of the news channels or websites?}}

Beta held up his hands. {{Nothing. I have managed to access the databanks of the large orbiting station. The probe has demolished a nearby planet, as it was programmed to do, and thus shielded our seed-pods from most detectors. However, there is mention made of the destruction of one of the waves. Which one is unknown.}}

{{Hm. This whole enterprise could have gone better. What are the humans doing now?}}

{{They seek some form of entry into the probe, via what they call wormholes, that is to say, intradimensional transit vortices. Their technology is insufficient for much, however, and they are extremely concerned should the probe target this world, as it did the other.}}

Alpha frowned. {{That makes little sense. Surely, having detected and destroyed one wave of pods designated for this planet, they would understand that the probe has no interest in destroying this one. That is only logical.}}

{{Their patterns of logic often do not make sense to me. And it seems they must make a conscious effort to employ even the most elementary logic systems, at least, most of them do.}} He paused, uncharacteriscally. {{ And…there is an anomaly….}}

{{Yes?}}

{{Our sensors have detected some very odd readings not too far from this location.}} Beta directed the group's attention to an active three-dimensional chart. {{Note here, in the area known to the humans as "Jump City." There is a grouping of enhanced power beings there, known as the "Teen Titans." They are not the issue, however. What drew my attention is this.}} And he showed them the readouts from the remote scans of Titans' Tower. {{Note this one spot: it appears to be an anomaly of some sort. Our sensors cannot determine what it is.}}

{{Speculation?}}

{{Something beyond our experience, beyond our ability to identify. I find that disturbing.}}

{{As do we all, Beta. As do we all.}} The Alpha thoughtfully chewed on a knuckle

_to be continued..._

_Please read and review! _


	24. Chapter 24: More Changes

_Insert Standard Disclaimer here. Sorry, but I get bored easy._

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending: Chapter 24: More Changes. And Another Interlude

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

It was nearly midnight when Omega finally returned. He was exhausted, not so much physically, but emotionally. He phased into the Tower by way of the front door, having momentarily forgotten the protocol for standard entry.

He struggled to restrain himself. He knew that, should he lose control at any time, such was his strength, these humans would suffer for it. That would not do. But he longed for a place where he could just _relax_.

Cyborg was fixing a late-night snack of sausage po-boys when Omega entered. "Hey, 'Mega! Welcome back!" Then he took a second look at the Osiran warrior. Something was wrong. "Omega? You okay, m'man?"

Omega sighed and knelt on the floor in the TV room. He seemed to struggle for a moment, gripping his throat, then said, "_I…am…fine, Cy Borg. Thank…you…for…ass..king."_

The Tower's alarms system whooped. Everybody boiled out of their respective rooms, some only half-dressed. They converged on the TV room, where Cyborg stood, grinning like a maniac. Omega had not moved. When they all looked questioningly at Cyborg, he nodded towards Omega. "G'wan, 'Mega. Do it."

Omega sighed. Then, "_Hell Low. Hello. How are you?"_

For a moment there was stunned silence. Then, Robin broke in. "You…you can.._talk?_"

"_Yes. Some. A litt tell. A little. …I…am..learning." _ He paused, an almost embarrassed expression coming over his face. "_I…am sorry if…my…voice sounds…strange. I…am…learning. I…will get…better."_

"Dude, that's a HUMONGOUS improvement!" Beast Boy was almost beside himself. "Hey, I can teach you! Try saying, 'eeny meeny Mynie moe…"

"A moment, BB," Robin held him back. "When did this happen, Omega?"

"_Just…today. I…asked the Orb…to help. It is…necessary for me…to be able…to talk…to you." _Already his speech was improving, his diction and grammar more sure. Robin could only imagine the effort it took for him to be able to do this good, so quickly. He must be one fast learner, the Boy Wonder thought. But he couldn't begin to guess what sort of organs the Osiran must be using to produce this voice…

"Well, good deal. Your voice does sound a little raspy, but considering you never spoke before….and it's improving even while we talk. This is great news, Omega! Does Hank know?"

"_Yes. I will…transform back now. I…need to…rest. I have some things to report to you..in the morning."_

...

Hank Jones came to, or re-entered the normal world, or whatever one wished to call it, in the room the Titans had reserved for him. He hadn't been a part of what Omega had gone through, and frankly, was glad of it, as he could sense echoes from his other self of the sheer torment it had been. _You must really want this,_ he silently "spoke" to the warrior, over on the flip side of reality.

_Indeed, I do. Now, if you will pardon me, I must…regenerate._ Hank flopped down, fully dressed, onto the queen-sized bed and was instantly asleep.

...

_At the Thinker base, the one known as "Gamma" went over some files. Hm. Yes, there was a something worthwhile noting there. {{Alpha?}}_

_{{Yes, Gamma?}}_

_{{Take notice of this. The one known as "Superman" bears a striking resemblance, in terms of certain superficial characteristics, to our own warrior class.}}_

_{{I have noticed that. But what do you make of it?}}_

_{{I have checked with Beta, and Epsilon. The records from the orbiting station bear this out: this "Superman" is from another world, one that circles a red sun.}}_

_{{Yes, and?}}_

_{{And there are records of other beings, beings with similar attributes, from other worlds. One called Daxam, for instance. Do you not see a coincidence there?}}_

_{{Hm. You have a theory?}}_

_{{I could see one alien race bearing a strong resemblance to our own, but two? Possibly more? It stretches the bounds of credulity. Might it not be too much to wonder if perhaps these extraterrestrial beings are somehow related to us? There was much confusion there, at the end of our world. The probe was only _one_ means of securing the survival of our species. Might there not have been others? Perhaps earlier ones? Ones, say, maybe even thousands or millions of terrestrial years earlier? It would explain much.}}_

_{{Perhaps, but what went wrong? Why are there _only_ warrior class types prevalent? What about Lords or Thinkers?}}_

_{{I…confess I do not know. Perhaps they exist, but have not yet been found? Or contacted the humans in some way?}}_

_{{Lords alone would have already started interstellar warfare, on such a scale as would hardly go unnoticed, even as far away as here. Warriors alone would've caused chaos, possibly destroying world after habitable world. Lords plus warriors without the moderating influence of our class….that is the stuff of nightmares. We need more information. And, it is necessary for us to operate in some way out of the range of human detection for the time being. We shall certainly take your theory into consideration.}}_

_Interlude 2:_

_The two female Thinkers who might be loosely designated "Delta" and "Theta" were busily scouting the perimeter of their new base. Alpha had delegated this responsibility to them, and they took it seriously. After all, he'd stressed to them that, even though these humans didn't seem very strong individually, still, there were many of them, and they could be dangerous. Stealth was necessary, so they were geared appropriately, with invisibility belts and antidetection apparatus._

_But, the truth was, they were bored. This world, while beautiful and unspoiled, had a whole lot of nothing in it. Or at least, nothing of interest to Thinkers. Their patrol route took them right past the O'Neil farmhouse, where Cletus' battered Ford pickup waited. Since it was not known for a fact that the farmer was dead (no body had been found), the place was cordoned off, and left largely unmonitored, pending the disposition of the farmer's property to his heirs, after a period of time._

_{{Look, Theta,}} Delta indicated, pointing towards O'Neil's Ford truck, {{no doubt the human's mode of transportation.}}_

_{{I see it, Delta. It seems….in need of repair.}} And indeed it did. Like most such ancient vehicles, Cletus had just never seemed to have the money to recondition it, and certainly not any for a new one. Especially when the old one kept right on working, uncomplainingly._

_The two Thinkers approached cautiously. Although they did not yet think in those terms, the relationship between Thinkers and machinery bore a strong resemblance to that between small children and puppy dogs._

_In less than an hour, the two had removed the motor, reworked it, reconfigured it, and reinstalled it. It now ran on a self-replenishing hydrogen fuel cell, and its tank was chrome lined, designed for water rather than gasoline._

_Delta smiled as she sat back on her knees and gazed at the results of their handiwork. It looked pretty good, if she did say so herself. They'd even smoothed out some of the major dents in the Ford's chassis, though they couldn't, of course, repaint it. {{Now for the final test,}} she announced, brushing her hands off._

_Theta shot her a suspicious glance. {{You're not thinking of…oh, no you don't!}}_

_{{Why not? What better way to test it?}}_

_{{Alpha would never approve!}}_

_{{So who's going to tell him? You let me handle Alpha. I'm not afraid of him. Besides, we can cover more ground this way.}}_

_{{And get spotted ever so much easier. I can just see the humans' news services tomorrow morning:" Alien Invaders Arrested On County Road, Leader Says You Can Keep 'em; They're Nothing But Trouble."}}_

_{{Ah, you worry too much. Besides, we still have our invisibility belts, don't we? What human authority is going to be inclined to stop a motor vehicle driven by empty air? What exactly would he do? And how exactly would he explain that? And don't tell me you don't want to see if we did this right. Not to mention give up a ride in an actual, genuine pre-atomic vehicle?}}_

_{{Welllllllllll…}} So before two more minutes had passed, the two were on the road, barreling along at 65. Delta made a mental note to herself to build up the floor pedals; her feet barely reached them._

_It was getting dark, and Delta switched on the lights, not because she needed them (Thinker vision extending from the infrared far into the soft x-ray range), but simply in keeping with what was obviously the humans' practice. They'd covered several miles of territory when Theta grabbed her arm. {{Look out, Delta!}}_

_Delta swerved to avoid the object of Theta's alarm: a small human was in the road. Not standing by the side, as one would think, but actually half-seated in the middle of the road itself. Delta fought the controls, and wrestled the truck over to the shoulder of the road. {{What? What __is__ that human __doing__?}}_

_Theta got out on her side. The small human continued to sit there, making sounds of distress and leaking moisture from its eyes. Delta joined her friend and the two conferred._

_{{What is it doing?}} asked Delta, {{Surely, sitting in the middle of a thoroughfare cannot make sense, in any system of logic.}}_

_{{We must find out.}} The two switched off their invisibility belts and approached the human._

_Little Maria Theresa Marco could barely see the two approaching through her tears. She wiped her eyes, then started suddenly when she saw the two aliens. She tried to get up to run, but her ankle, the one she'd twisted a few minutes ago, gave way, and she fell back down, sobbing all the more for the pain._

_The two white-skinned, large-headed bipeds approached her. She couldn't run; she couldn't even defend herself. One of them knelt down beside her and just looked at her. They did nothing frightening to the child, so she sniffled and tried to dry her eyes._

_Now the one kneeling by her was looking at her ankle, which was swollen from where she'd sprained it. It reached out to touch the injury, but Maria drew back, afraid it would hurt her more. The being smiled, and stroked her arm in a reassuring manner. After a moment, she allowed the strange being to touch her ankle._

_{{Look, Theta. The human has suffered a minor injury. Pretty easy to fix.}}_

_{{I worry, Delta. This is obviously a young human. Surely her parents or caregivers are nearby. We risk discovery all the more with every passing second.}}_

_{{Do you see any evidence of adult human activity anywhere in the vicinity?}} Delta was asking a serious question, and Theta scanned the area for such signs._

_{{No.}}_

_{{I cannot help but wonder what this human child is doing out here, away from her kin. Well, for many reasons, we cannot leave her here. We will have to take her back with us to the base.}}_

_{{Are you insane? Don't answer that. To say that Alpha will be extremely annoyed is akin to saying that close proximity to a supernova can be hazardous to one's health.}}_

_{{It will not the first time he's been annoyed with me. Besides, he has been looking for a live human specimen, for study, has he not? So how is this inconsistent with our agenda?}} Theta just rolled her eyes._

_Maria didn't know what to make of these strange, silent beings, but considering what she was running from…..all she knew was, that the one who'd knelt beside her, who'd comforted her, seemed gentle and kind. So she made no outcry when that one picked her up and carried her back to the battered farm truck they'd been driving. Although young (she was only six years old), she knew that if they'd really wanted to hurt her, they could have already._

_And anything was better than who and what she was running from._

_End of Interlude 2_

_To be continued…._

_Please don't forget to review!_


	25. Chapter 25: Encounters

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, Chapter 25: Encounters

_I don't own, you know._

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Hank woke up in Titans' Tower, feeling as if he'd undergone a beating. He checked the time; he'd missed breakfast. Hurriedly, he washed his face and got cleaned up. He turned his senses inward, to check on Omega, but couldn't detect any activity. Evidently, the Osiran was still recovering from his ordeal.

Nobody was in evidence in the kitchen, so Hank prepared his own breakfast. While he was scrambling the eggs, he wondered: why was Omega so insistent upon being able to talk to people directly? He saw the need for it, yes, but undergoing what the Osiran had gone through…seemed to call for a motivation beyond anything he could understand. He shrugged; he'd probably do the same thing, were roles reversed.

And he wondered where Raven was. Probably on patrol, with the others. Something about her had caught his attention, and he was pondering ways to, to, well, to be around her more. As he ate, he wondered: did Raven like movies? He'd just have to find out, wouldn't he?

...

_Alpha gazed at the two miscreants. Here they were, on a strange new world, with strict orders not to draw attention to themselves, and what had they done? Not only commandeered an Earth vehicle, but brought home a stray human. And an immature one, at that. {{I suppose you have a good explanation for this?}} Theta thought that just the tone of his mental voice lowered the ambient temperature in his office by about twelve degrees._

Delta, however , stood her ground. _{{We could not leave her, Alpha. She would have been easy prey for many predators. Do we really want who knows what manner of earth predators drawn to the area around our stronghold? Besides, can we not learn from her?}} _She stood and faced him, expression defiant.

_{{That is not the reason you brought her here, however. You may've kept to the letter of my instructions, but this is clearly a violation of the intent, nonetheless.}} _ He paused. _{{Bring the child here.}}_

Maria didn't know what to make of these aliens—even at her age, she knew what they were, what they had to be-, but she was not uncomfortable with them, for some reason. Now the two that had brought her here led her to yet another, this one just as bald as the other two, but with masculine features and an air of authority about him. She was afraid of him, and clung to the alien who'd brought her to this strange place.

But that one simply picked her up and stroked her hair reassuringly. The leader—he was clearly in charge-looked at her with an unmistakable expression of distaste. Then he turned towards the other one, the one who'd brought her here. She thought it rather odd, that nobody spoke or said anything…

{{Very well. What has been done cannot be undone. But YOU,}} and here he indicated Delta,{{will be responsible for her. And YOU,}}he gestured towards Theta, {{will assist her. Understood?}}

{{Yes, Alpha. I wouldn't have it any other way.}} smiled Delta.

{{You do realize that we cannot return her to the humans, not after all she's seen. And, she will need upgrades, augmentations, and possibly prosthetics just to be able to interact with the rest of us, on even the most fundamental level, do you not?}} Delta nodded. {{ That will be part of your responsibility towards her and the rest of us.}} Again Delta nodded.

{{I have already conferred with Beta and Epsilon. It will take time, but it can be done. And you will see, Alpha. I believe she will be quite valuable to us, a treasure, ah, in terms of information, of course.}}

...

Terra concentrated, feeling with her mind for the connection to the earth she had. It had been a slow process, but she was getting there. Now, she could displace medium-size amounts of rock or dirt by direct levitation without getting a headache; it was still, however, a work in progress.

And, as always, Beast Boy was there to cheer her on. _How did I ever get by without him?_ She wondered to herself. Of course, she knew the answer: poorly.

Ever since the Markovian scientists had experimented on her and her brother, so many years ago, Terra had been acutely conscious of her, well, her _isolation_ she guessed one might call it. Brion, her half-brother, had taken to the "treatments" rather better than she had; being the illegitimate offspring of the Markovian king had only let her in for abuse. She wasn't entitled to the respect of being fully royal; that, plus the growing _difference_ in her had only tended to isolate her further.

She was neither royalty nor commoner. It was a lonely niche.

And, for so very long, it had been the only niche she had.

But now….now she wasn't alone any more. It was a _wonderful_ feeling.

For his part, Beast Boy was feeling such elation he could barely contain himself. He felt Terra's achievements as though they were his own. _We're becoming one person_, he told himself. Perhaps they already were, on some levels…

In the kitchen, Cyborg and Starfire were collaborating on tonight's meal. Hank was in on it, too. It was fitting, really; a successful day _warranted_ a good dinner.

"And what is this, Friend Hank?" Starfire inquired, looking over his shoulder.

"It's called turnip greens, Star. My mom makes the best, better than this, I'm sure. Someday I gotta introduce you guys to her."

"Turn Up greens? What an odd name!" She wrinkled her nose at the sound, giggling.

"Don't knock it 'till you try it. These recipes have been handed down through more generations than I can count. Here, now, you add the salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce….here, try some."

Raven was busy trying to read her book. Or perhaps pretending to. Hank noticed, every time he glanced over at her, she quickly re-buried her nose back in the book. _Hmmm. I wonder…is she checking me out?_ That thought was, actually, kinda nice. "Hey, Raven. Wanna try some?"

"Uhm, what? I—I'm sorry, I wasn't listening…" _Shhuure you weren't_, thought Hank. "Oh. Uh, yes, I-I will try some." She accepted the small forkful a bit hesitantly, but resolutely put it in her mouth and chewed….

…then began coughing and gagging. She clawed for a bottle of Sprite, managing to get outside most of it in one gulp. "Ah, er, per—perhaps it is an acquired taste," she managed to choke out, her voice raspy.

"Probably," Hank acknowledged cheerfully. "They tell me I acquired it 'bout two seconds after I was born. But, hey: different strokes an' all, you know."

"So, Hank," Cyborg broke in, "What's all this about Omega talking? I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything, but I kinda got this impression he went through an awful lot just to do it."

Hank sobered, turning the heat down on the greens, wiping his hands, and turning to Cyborg. "Yeah, he did. He went through hell itself. I didn't feel any of it myself, but just the echoes were bad enough. As to why it's so important," here he spread his hands, "I honestly don't know. I get the impression, it's more than just simple efficiency, on his part. But as to what else it could be, he hasn't shared that with me yet."

"Okay, Titans," broke in Robin, "Time for some updates. Batman tells me Lex Luthor and company destroyed one wave of projectiles, or pods, or whatever you wanna call 'em. That leaves two. Hank? You have anything to report on that?"

Hank leaned back in his chair. It hadn't escaped Robin's eyes that he always seemed to pick a chair close to Raven. Or was it the other way around? Either way, she didn't seem to mind…."Yes, I do. Omega's pretty sure we're dealing with Thinkers here. The _modus operandi_ is totally consistent with them and their mindset. And, he tells me, if the other surviving wave was Lords, everybody in creation would know about it, by now. But he hasn't seen any sign of warriors, either. They might not be quite as obvious as Lords, but you can imagine a whole bucketload of guys like him, on their own, wouldn't exactly be hard to miss."

"He's sure it's not Lords?"

"As sure as he can be without physical evidence. From what I gather from him—and that reminds me, he's been awfully quiet today—Lords, had they landed, would have set up these things called 'Domains,' like little city-states under impenetrable force-domes, and pretty much conquered anyone inside. Little fiefdoms, you know. And, more than likely, one or more of them would already be on the warpath against either the others or us. On Osira, they had warriors to enforce their will, but they were not powerless, themselves, not by a good long shot.

"On the other hand, everything he's seen is completely consistent with Thinker mentality: survey the area, set up strongholds of their own, stay below the radar until they're good and ready."

Robin chewed a knuckle. "So…..this other wave, the one that escaped destruction, that wasn't Thinkers-it's most likely…..?"

"Warriors. But if so, something's gone wrong. If there were Osiran warriors loose on Earth right now, well, I don't see how we wouldn't know."

"Speculation?"

"Something happened to the warrior wave, and, for some reason, they haven't, haven't, uhm, hatched? Yet."

"So what can we do?"

Hank chewed his lip. "Not really sure. It may be, if the Lords' wave was the one destroyed, the warriors 'seeded' here on Earth may be waiting for orders. Thinkers might have a little bit more, what would you call it, free will? More independence? Remember, the warriors' primary function was as the martial arm of the Lords. I gather there was some sort of conditioning process, or programming, or something like that they underwent, presumably to make them more controllable. And that might be the only thing that's held them back for this long."

"What would their weaknesses be?"

"The only sure one that comes to mind is that same conditioning procedure. Omega's not sure how it worked, but if we could somehow get a handle on the process ourselves…it'd be a major step."

"Can you work with Omega to put that together?"

"I'll try. But like I said, he's been pretty quiet today. I get the impression he needs time to heal, so to speak. But I'll definitely get with him about that as soon as I can."

"That's all we can ask."

...

_Interlude 3_

Debra Smith was having the time of her life. Graduated high school with honors, on her way to the University of Southern Cal, hot boyfriend waiting for her in LA. So, yeah, life was good, as the commercial said. She'd been driving for hours without a break, but she coming to an area she knew, in the Colorado Rockies, that she'd found a couple of years ago, a special area she'd found on a hiking trip some time before. It was just up ahead. It wasn't even too far off the beaten path. She just hoped nobody else had found it, but if they did, what the hey. It'd do her good just to get out of the jeep and stretch her legs a bit. She drove off the main road, and, after a rather bumpy ride and a short hike, found herself at a secluded pond of crystal clear water.

She put down her backpack and stretched. Driving that far was work! But, of course, it was worth it…

She sat cross-legged while she checked her cell, thinking about calling her mother, but the display showed no bars. Well, she'd be back in civilization altogether too soon anyway. She'd call her mom then.

She was sitting on a rock overlooking the pond. It was really too small to call it a lake, but large enough to discourage trying to swim all the way across. Hm…she had a wicked impulse.

She carefully checked around, and then, seeing no one, hurriedly shucked her clothes, carefully folding her khaki shorts and shirt on the rock itself, and plunged, naked, into the water.

The shock of the clear mountain water's coldness momentarily took her breath away. Then, reflexes took over, and she paddled around in the water, luxuriating in the sense of doing something naughty. She smiled a lascivious smile as she found herself thinking about Bobby, and wishing he were here. Then they'd _really_ be doing something naughty.

She swam back and forth along the shore line a few times, then decided she was rested enough. Time to get back on the road.

She turned towards the rock where she'd left her clothes. Huh? There was some strange dude crouched there, looking at her folded clothes.

_Great_, she thought to herself. Some perv had been watching her, and now he was gonna steal her clothes, forcing her to walk back naked to the jeep for others. But she was a modern young woman, and didn't have any problem with showing off what she knew was a body to die for. Plus, she had a brown belt in karate; unless the perv was armed, she wasn't worried.

But the closer she got to the shore, the more she noticed how _odd_ the perv looked. For one thing, his skin was totally white, like a sheet of high-grade copy paper. And he had no hair at all. Oh, wait; some thin eyebrows, also paper-white. And some sort of odd headband all the way around his head. Could he be wearing makeup or something? Like clown makeup, greasepaint? Why?

But it really didn't look like greasepaint.

She reached the bank and hoisted herself up out of the water. The perv stood up from his examination of her clothes and looked at her. He made no sound whatsoever, and if he was showing any kind of expression, she couldn't tell it. "Enjoying the show?" she asked him, with only a little bit of bite in it. After all, it _had_ been her own idea to get nekkid in what was, basically, a public place.

The perv made no sound whatsoever as she approached. She reached down to get her undergarments—just as another dude, almost identical to the first, came out of the woods and joined them.

_Okay, enough's enough_, she thought. She had no fear of one guy, but two? How big an audience had she drawn, anyway?

She began to put her clothes on, and a third one, for all intents and purposes identical to the previous two, strolled out of the wooded area behind them and joined the growing crowd. It was a little unnerving, how nobody said anything, or made any sort of sound whatsoever, but just _looked_ at her steadily.

And, she realized, something else: most of the time, when presented the sight of a woman's unclad body, most guys' eyes will gravitate towards the boobs, at some point. These guys apparently hadn't gotten that memo, because they all stared, steadily, at her head. A memory flashed through her mind, of when she was little and had fallen down, the family's Labrador retriever had jumped at the chance to lick her face, almost as if he understood that the part of her that made her _herself_ was actually concentrated in her head….

These guys acted the same way. They totally ignored what she'd always considered to be a killer bod and watched her face the whole time. "So," she said, more to break the silence than anything, as she wrung out her hair, "you guys live around here?" The silence was a little eerie; she couldn't even hear any birds or crickets. The trio didn't move, didn't blink.

While she dressed, she studied them. They weren't completely identical, but if asked to pick one out of a line-up, she wasn't sure she could do it. Come to think of it, were they all really guys? Like, _guy_ guys? The one on the right seemed slightly shorter and, although just as hairless as the others, had a definite swelling of the upper torso…not Playboy material, by any means, but there, nonetheless. All of them were wearing some sort of black, tightly fitting garment that had some sort of silvery "V" design down the front, almost like a science-fictiony type uniform or something. They were all standing up, and, though she had no way of measuring them, seemed to be significantly taller that she was. She guessed them as being about six feet and change. Not bad looking bods themselves, from what she could see, underneath those tight outfits. They didn't have the overmuscled look of professional bodybuilders, but they were still quite buff.

They didn't say anything, or respond to her questions in any way, but just continued to _look_ at her in that strange, unnerving way. Like they were _waiting _for something. She finished dressing, got out her car keys, and picked up her walking staff. She felt a little better for having it in her hands, now. "Okay, guys, it's, uh, been real." _More like surreal_.

Now she headed back up the small trail that led to her jeep. While she didn't run, she couldn't help but check behind her, to see if she was being followed, but apparently not. She got to her car, started the motor. It kicked in, reliably. So they hadn't sabotaged her jeep; that was good, and they apparently hadn't followed her; even better. At least this wasn't a "Hills Have Eyes" type deal.

But as she drove on to LA and her new life, she couldn't help but think that something very important had happened back there. Those weird dudes hadn't been any inbred locals or mutated mountaineers; just what the bleep _had_ they been?

Oh, well. It was probably nothing.

_End of Interlude 3_

_To be continued…._


	26. Chapter 26: More Memories

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 26: More Memories

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_I don't own, blah, blah, although some of these characters are of my own creation. So there. (Sticks tongue out)_

Back at the hidden base that used to belong to Slade, Alpha was reviewing the progress of several projects when Delta signaled him, using Link. {{Alpha. Are you busy?}}

{{Am I ever not?}} He sighed a bit. {{What is it?}}

{{I think you might want to come hear this yourself.}}

{{What? What is it, Delta? I really _am_ somewhat busy here…}}

{{It's…it's just something I'm not comfortable sharing with the hive as a whole just yet, not until we have more information. It—it really does need your personal attention. Theta's here, and she agrees with me.}}

_Now what?_ Thought Alpha. He deduced it had to be something to do with the human girl the two had found. He really had more important things to do, but….besides, Delta had sounded upset. He knew Delta, and she didn't get upset easily.

So he caught a transit disk to the area of Slade's former lair they'd designated for the housing and care of the human foundling. On entering, he saw the two females, sitting in the ergonomically designed Osiran chairs. Delta was holding the human foundling in her lap, apparently comforting her, as the immature human was again making sounds of distress and leaking moisture from her eyes. Alpha frowned slightly at that. It seemed a waste of perfectly good fluids. Perhaps some way could be found to capture and recycle it….

{{Alright, I'm here. Now what's so important that it couldn't be sent to me over Link?}} He noticed all three of them were wearing oddly designed headbands, and remembered Theta talking about designing a communications / translator device that would enable them to communicate with the young human, and with other humans in general, if and when it came time for such. It would translate the child's thoughts into a form of communication intelligible to the Linked Thinkers.

{{Here,}} Delta handed him a headband. {{You need to hear this for yourself.}} Her mental "voice" caught his attention: she was more than just upset, she was _disturbed_. He knew Delta, and knew she didn't usually get disturbed by anything. What in the nine worlds could possibly have shaken her so?

Silently, he thought and summoned up a V-shaped Osiran chair, which extruded from the plastoid flooring beneath him, putting the headband on even as he sat. He was aware that this had to be important; these two wouldn't have pulled him away from his work needlessly. That fact disturbed him all by itself. He'd never seen them this, this,_ agitated._

Delta turned to the child, still in her arms. He could sense her communicating with the human, over Link. {{Maria? This is Alpha. He is our Leader here. Tell him what you just told Theta and me.}}

The girl sniffled and began crying more. But images began to form in Alpha's mind:

_Everything was okay before the white powder._

_Maria could remember a time when her mother would play with her, and they would laugh, and watch television together, or play a game, or something. But then, one day, Maria's mother came home with a package, a package she was careful to keep from Maria's curious fingers. For a long time, Maria didn't know what was in the package, but she would occasionally see her mother in the kitchen, trying to put some kind of white powder up in her nose. Maria couldn't understand why she was doing this. But when her mother got the powder up in her nose, she seemed….different. They'd do things, go places, have fun just like they had…but her mother seemed more agitated than before. Somehow more exited, but in a somewhat strange and scary way. And sometimes, she'd laugh at something that Maria couldn't see, or talk to someone who wasn't there, but only after she'd put the white powder up in her nose._

_Then Maria's mother had lost her job. She started going out at night, and sometimes she was gone a very long time, almost to the point where Maria would be wondering if she was going to come home. But when she did come home, she seemed tired, and had no time for Maria, or the energy to do the things they used to do. Sometimes, she'd cry, sometimes she'd laugh, sometimes she'd do both at once. And she seemed very short tempered with Maria. She often got very upset over what seemed like little things. But Maria just figured it was something to do with grown-ups, whom she didn't really understand in the first place, except they were always telling her not to do stuff._

_And then, Maria had noticed her mother mixing the white powder into a liquid and giving herself a shot of it, with a needle. Maria cringed at that; she hated having to go to the doctor and get shots, but her mother was doing this to herself, and Maria only supposed she must have a good reason. Maybe it didn't hurt grownups like it did her._

_Then some strange men began to come around, and sometimes they would all go into the back room for a while. Sometimes there would be shouts, and screaming from her mother, and her mother would come out looking like she'd cried about something. Maria didn't trust these strange men, with their dark sunglasses that they never took off, even inside the house, and the strange way they looked at her. Sometimes, when they looked at her, they'd smile, but it was not a good smile. Not a friendly smile. It made Maria all the more afraid of them. There was something creepy about it, and about them. Her mother told her they were her "uncles," but Maria knew better, even at her age._

_Then, one day, Maria's mother had cried all day long. Maria tried to talk to her, to see what the matter was, but her mother wouldn't talk to her. She just sat there in the kitchen and cried. Maria didn't see any more of the white powder, and she hoped there wasn't anymore, because whenever her mother took the powder, she wasn't herself, somehow. It was like she was a different person. And not one Maria really liked, either. A stranger._

_Finally, Maria's mother stopped crying, and dried her eyes. Then she took Maria into the bathroom and gave her a bath, something she hadn't done for a long time now. And she'd fixed up Maria's hair so that it was so pretty, and put her best dress on her, and her best socks and shoes. Maria was cheered by this somewhat; maybe things were going to get better._

_But then her mother had made a phone call, and begun crying again. And within a few minutes, Maria's "uncles" had showed up, and they once again began looking at Maria with that strange, scary smile of theirs. Maria's mother had told her to go with her "uncles," and do what they told her to do, and she'd be along after a while to pick her up._

_So Maria had left with the two strange men. She was terrified. Young as she was, she knew they wanted to do something to her. She didn't know what, but she knew, instinctively, that it would be Bad, and that it would probably Hurt, and, even worse, they wouldn't Stop. Her fear was made all the worse by the simple fact that she didn't know what, exactly, they were going to do._

_Just outside of town, they'd stopped at a gas station. Maria had told them she needed to go to the bathroom, and she went to the bathroom in the back, outside, while one of the two men put gas in the car, and the other one went into the store itself._

_While in the bathroom, Maria quickly turned on the water, then looked outside. Her two "uncles" were around front, so Maria locked the door from the inside, pulled it shut, and ran off into the woods just outside the gas place._

_Instinctively, she headed for the thickest areas, where the brush and thorns tore her hair and clothes, but would also hamper any larger person from chasing her. If she could only get back to her mother! Surely, her mother wouldn't send her off again. And they could go places, and do things the way they used to, and be a family again…and she would go to school every day and get such good grades so that her mother would be so proud of her, and would never ever send her off with any scary men, ever again._

_She paused several times, listening for sounds of pursuit, hardly daring to breathe, certain that any minute one of the two scary men would burst out of the underbrush and grab her. But she kept moving. She didn't know how to get back to her mother's, but maybe if she could get far enough away from the two scary men, she'd find her way back. So she stuck close by the road, keeping to the thick brush as best she could._

_Then, daring to run across the road get to a denser cover of bushes, she had tripped and hurt her ankle. Now she couldn't even run anymore. When the headlights of the vehicle loomed up, she'd been certain it was them, the scary men, they'd found her again, and this time they wouldn't let her go to the bathroom._

_But out of the glare of the headlights had come, not the two scary men she feared so much, but two much shorter beings with pale white skin and large, bulbous heads….._

The train of imagery ended, and the four of them sat there for a moment. The only sound in the room was Maria's sobbing. None of the Thinkers "spoke;" they were all sitting in stunned silence, both mental and emotional.

{{Alpha? Did we interpret this correctly?}} Theta's mind-voice broke the silence. {{Did this child's mother give her away in exchange for what is obviously some form of chemical stimulant?}} There was no doubt about the images they'd received; it wasn't any form of verbal communication, subject to interpretation; rather it was the child's memories as she herself remembered them. There was simply no possibility of miscommunication.

{{Alpha?}} Delta was also in a state of shock. {{What sort of creatures are these humans? What sort of world have we fallen into?}}

Alpha jolted out of his own private nightmare. {{One that needs us.}}


	27. Chapter 27: Reassurances

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 27: Reassurances

_I originally wasn't going to include this scene, but it's going to be important for future chapters. So here it is, short as it is._

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

He sat back in his chair, which contoured itself automatically for maximum comfort. The girl, Maria, was still crying, despite Delta's best efforts at comforting her. Even though she was not now projecting, still, Alpha could tell she was very much afraid, afraid the scary men would find her, afraid her mother didn't want her anymore, and many more things, few of which made any sense to Alpha. He stood up from his seat and walked over to where Delta was sitting, holding Maria. He knelt in front of them, bringing his head more or less on a level with the little girl's. {{Child? Maria? Can you hear me?}} Maria turned her head to look at him, but held on tight to Delta. Alpha could tell she was afraid of _him_, too. {{Maria. Listen to me. I am Alpha, and I am leader here in this hive. I want you to know something: you are safe here. No harm will befall you, and we will protect you from all threats. We will protect you from those men who wanted to harm you. And, if you like, as soon as we can, we will search for your mother, bring her here to you, and see what can be done to help her. Would you like that? Just remember: you are _safe_ here. On that, you have my word as Leader.}}

While he'd been speaking, Maria had turned to look at him, beginning to dry her tears. Delta brought up a large, soft towel to help her. When Alpha finished "speaking" to her, however, she started crying again, but in a much quieter way. She turned to Delta and hugged close to her, even as the tears kept coming,

{{I don't understand. I only sought to allay any fears she may've had about being here, in a strange place, amongst strangers. What did I do wrong, Delta?}}

Delta only smiled, and hugged the child, stroking her hair in a comforting way. {{You didn't do anything wrong, Alpha. In fact, you did everything just right.}}


	28. Chapter 28: Warrior's Way

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 28: Warrior's Way

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Meanwhile, back at Titans' Tower, Terra was sorting through her old clothes, in her old room, preparing for the time when she would go out on patrol with the others. Her control of her powers had increased remarkably, and she fully expected Robin to give her the all clear any day now.

Now she came upon an unusual suit which resembled a leather once-piece, turtle-necked "earthtones" bathing suit more than anything else, but one with sleeves, in two shades of brown. Hm. Interesting belt. And matching armlets. But the material wasn't leather…

She put it on. It fit her like a glove, stretching slightly, the fabric light and somewhat breathable. Spandex, maybe? Had it been an old suit of hers? But she was sure she hadn't ever actually worn anything like this…and then she felt a draft.

Turning around in front of the mirror, she gasped out loud. Holy Toledo. There was more of her butt cheeks showing than she'd _ever_ voluntarily showed! Even in a bathing suit! This suit was…was…practically indecent….

_Well,_ she thought, her face flaming red, _if I ever need to draw attention away from my face, this is definitely the suit._ Whoever had owned this suit sure didn't have any problems with modesty! She hurriedly took it off, before someone could walk in on her. Not that she minded the _right_ person walking in on her like this…the right _green_ person, of course…she smiled a downright naughty smile. Perhaps the suit would see some use after all, someday.

...

In the Colorado mountains, the three warriors Debra Smith had encountered sat silently by a glow-globe. It cast light, but no heat. Not that they needed light, but some primitive impulse caused them to set it up, more as a central meeting place than anything else.

However, by now their numbers had grown somewhat. By now there were six hundred and thirty warriors, sitting in groups of three, facing each other. They were grouped together in larger groups of seven triad groupings, each one facing the empty space across from the glow-globes, ready to defend the others' back. They sat silently, with no movement, and no sound any human could have heard. Their conditioning had been superb; few thoughts that would be recognized as such by humans passed through their heads. They had their own system of Linking, and occasionally, some comment would wander through, like a mouse in a field of tall grass.

They were Waiting.

{{_Question/Curiosity/What was that thing?_}} One of them—it was impossible to tell just which one—asked of the group in general.

{{_Fact/It looked like one of us,_}} thought another. Again, it would have been impossible to tell which one.

{{_Noted_/_But so soft!_}}

{{_Agreement/yes._}}

{{_Curiosity/Was the right thing done, in letting it go?_}}

{{_Belief/It is thought so. There are no orders._}}

{{_Interrogative/Where are the Lords?_}}

{{_Confusion/It is not known. Belief/They will come, when the time is right._}}

Sheriff Jenkins had been in his current line of employment for thirty-four years. In that time, he'd seen and heard a great deal. Enough to know that the world still held some surprises for him. So when someone phoned in a query about some "weirdos camping" off the beaten path in his patrol area, he didn't for a minute think it was nothing but some hikers. He remembered an old saying attributed to none other than Wyatt Earp, back in the days when the latter had been Marshall of the town of Tombstone: "I always confronted trouble with my gun in my hand."

Well, times had certainly changed somewhat. You couldn't just go up to people with a drawn firearm any more. Not kosher. Just not _done_ anymore. But it never hurt to be a little extra cautious. With this in mind, he got out of his pickup and hiked the short distance to the area around Debra Smith's little lake.

In the gathering darkness, it was easy to spot the interlopers. They were sitting in groups of three all over the place. Sheriff Jenkins frowned. Something was wrong. Anyone sitting around that large a place shouldn't be just _sitting_ there, not moving. Could it be a movie thing, a shot for some yet-to-come blockbuster, maybe using manikins or something? They were all so _still_. He could feel the hairs on his arms stir, slightly, even though it wasn't particularly cold.

He walked up a little closer, but couldn't see anything more informative that way, either. Somehow, they really didn't look entirely human; they were all a kind of pasty white and all quite bald, as if they shaved their heads. Group of skinheads, maybe? But why no movement? That, more than anything, caught his attention. They didn't even seem to be breathing…and what were those things they were all sitting around, anyway? Some sort of steady electric light, definitely not a campfire or anything, but he couldn't see any power cords, nor any base or other sign of any actual mechanism. Just the glow.

Sheriff Jenkins was not a stupid man, nor was he one who was in love with his own authority. He walked up to the nearest grouping, close enough to be able to reach out and touch one of the strangers…but didn't.

Although he would never know it, that one decision on his part saved his life.

Every warrior in the grouping was fully aware of his presence, even though they gave no sign of being so. Each and every one was fully prepared to strike down any thing or anybody that in any way committed any action that might possibly be interpreted as hostile.

So Jenkins went back to his patrol truck and picked up the radio. "Hey, Stuart. You still got that number for that outfit out west, that handles the weird stuff?"

{{_Interrogative/What is that?_}}

{{_Fact noted/Another one of those creatures._}}

{{_Interrogative/Should we attack?_}}

{{_Belief/Fact/There are no orders. If it attacks, we will respond. If not, we will follow our orders._}} None of these thoughts were expressed in words, but rather in concepts, flowing between the silent beings.

{{_Fact noted/It is summoning someone._}}

{{_Curiosity/Mild_ _curiosity. Who/what could it be?_}}

{{_Hopefulness/ Perhaps it is a Lord._}}

{{_Expression/We shall see._}}

Miles away, Hank was in his room at Titans' Tower, going over some forms. Nobody had ever told him joining the Titans required paperwork! But then he shrugged; why should he be surprised?

Oh, crud. Now his pen chose this time to give out on him. He started to get up to go get another when the pen he was just then going to fetch floated up into the air and wafted towards him, all by itself.

Hank Jones, veteran of the US Armed forces, and former line combatant in Afghanistan, practically fell out of his chair in surprise. An involuntary yelp escaped as he fought down a completely spontaneous whole-body twitch when he saw the pen apparently winging its way towards him, as if it were on invisible strings or something.

"Friend Hank!" Starfire's voice sounded right outside his door. "You are all of right in there?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, Star, I'm, uh, alright." He frowned at the pen, which had landed in his hand. "At least, I _think_ I am." There was no doubt in his mind that _he_ had been the one to do this: he could, and did, _feel_ the pen with his mind, with a sense that was not touch as he understood it.

"Hank," now Robin's voice came from outside his door. He opened the door and continued talking."We just got something in. Colorado sheriff reports odd looking campers. Describes 'em as 'extremely pale' types, all sitting around 'electric campfires' or something." He handed Hank the report. "Think it's what we're looking for?"

"It definitely deserves a look." He stood up, forgetting momentarily about flying ink pens, and crossed his arms.

_Okay,_ he silently spoke to Omega as the latter flew over the city towards the Rockies, _you saw what happened back there?_

_Yes. But I have no explanation for it. There is no data from which to extrapolate._

_Well, anyway. You think this is it?_

_It seems likely._ The warrior scanned ahead with his senses. _In fact, I believe I can definitely say it is "it," as you would say._ He landed in the midst of the outermost grouping.

Not so much as one head turned at his appearance.

Omega looked at the assembled warriors carefully. They were definitely Osirans, all warriors—more or less—like himself, but with a profound difference he found unsettling. _This is bad,_ he thought to Hank, over on his other side.

_You're telling me. There's so many of these guys!_

_That is not what I meant. They are closed._

_What?_

_By that I mean, they basically have no thoughts of their own. Some, it is true. But not to the degree that others of my kind do. That we did,_ he corrected himself.

_And this is bad because….?_

_I have no way of communicating with them. They have their own…system of Linkage, access to which I am denied. They will not communicate with me; only with a Lord, or, possibly, another warrior on their "wavelength," so to speak._

_But… if there's no Lords, then there's no danger, right?_

_Wrong. There is a great deal of danger. And no way of communicating with them to lessen it._

_Wonderful. So what do we do?_

_I have said there is no way to communicate with them. I misspoke; there is one way._

_Omega, what're you planning on do-._

Omega pulled out his T-Cell, and speed-dialed the Tower. _"Robin?"_ he spoke, still rasping somewhat, "_I have to do some traveling again. This time, a bit farther out than before. Again, do not attempt to follow me, and please instruct those at the Watchtower to do likewise."_

"_Omega, where are you going? What's going on?"_

"_I do not yet know, but I very much doubt I'll be hard to find."_ Then he thought, and made one more phone call, upon the conclusion of which he closed the T-Cell, and, without warning, slammed the edge of his hand into the back of the nearest warrior's head.

Evening mealtime at Beth's Mountain Cafe was suddenly interrupted by the sound of several ripping, popping explosions coming from several miles to the east, southeast. The ground shook, as patrons rushed to the window to see what looked like a wall of flames shooting up into the heavens, hundreds of sparks flying upward, spiraling upward into the purpling, starry darkness. The window shuddered at the concussive force rolling over the mountains. It sounded, one man would later on say, as if World War III had started just over the hill.

It had.

...

"Batman? You need to see this…" Shayera showed him the console, which had lit up like a Christmas tree. "Something's going on in mid-America. Looks like a full-scale war."

"Put it on screen." She did, and Batman could tell from the way it looked that _something_ had evidently stirred up a nuclear-powered hornet's nest in mountainous Colorado. But the vector of the commotion was headed up and out, away from Earth.

...

{{Alpha. Observe.}} Epsilon Sent him the images he was receiving from the remote scanners. {{Warriors! _Our_ warriors!}}

{{Initiate communication procedures at once. Summon them here.}}

Pause. Then, {{I am trying, but I am getting no response.}}

{{Use a rotating command com sequence, utilizing all codes, both those in our library and any potential codes. It is imperative we communicate with them.}}

Another pause. {{It's not working, Alpha! I cannot access their internal communication network!}}

{{Curse. Why am I not surprised? What is going on?}}

{{Evidently, the Prime warrior has initiated conflict. He appears to be drawing them away from Earth.}}

{{ONE warrior against how many?}}

{{Sensors indicate one thousand fifty.}}

{{Is there _no_ way of communicating with them?}}

{{We cannot seem to access their system. Something must have gone wrong in their development; they are not responding to the any of the standard recognition codes, or anything else.}}

{{Sigh. In that case, we had best hope that insane Prime knows what he is doing. Warriors we cannot communicate with are worse than no warriors at all. Where are they headed?}}

{{Outward, past Earth's moon. I am initiating tracking procedures.}}

...

Meanwhile, Omega was enjoying himself immensely. This was, after all, what he'd been literally born and bred to do.

The warriors behind him boiled out of Earth's atmosphere. It would be unfair to say they attacked "furiously," as emotion played very little part in their makeup. However, they certainly did not hold anything back.

Omega dodged and weaved. These warriors had been well indoctrinated and trained; he had to make the most of the open field advantage of space to avoid their attack patterns.

He thought ahead. Certainly, they would seek to try to box him in, or catch him in a crossfire, so he dodged and weaved in a random pattern. His personal shields had already taken some glancing hits; nothing he couldn't handle, though, but he knew he couldn't stay ahead of them forever. There were simply too many.

Fortunately, he didn't have to.

...

Back at Titans' Tower, the others watched his progress on the monitor screens, gasping at some of the near-misses. Robin and Starfire were particularly concerned, but Robin had remembered Omega's words: _do not follow me._ He'd passed that information on to Batman at the Watchtower, lest some of them involve themselves, to their detriment. After all, each individual Osiran warrior was, essentially, a man-sized and shaped warship. And there were so many…

Raven and Terra were both curiously non-present. Even in his concern, Robin noted that, and wondered why.

Every Titan was sitting on the edge of his or her seat. "What," wondered Cyborg, "is he _doing?_"

But Robin knew. "He's drawing them away from us."

...

_I sure hope you know what you're doing, pal,_ Hank "said" to the warrior.

_But of course I do. And this is the only way to even partially minimize their threat to those on Earth. As you would say, "Bear with me. I have a plan."_

_Just as long as it doesn't end up with one or more of us six feet under. Say, that's something to consider; what happens to us if one of us dies?_

_A question for another time, to be sure. Now, if you'll excuse me…_

He twisted and turned, dodging behind Earth's moon; several warriors were unable to change their course in time, and ran into a lunar mountain range. This didn't impede them for long, but any delay was helpful. Omega noted how long it took them to dig their way out; this provided him much needed information regarding their capabilities.

_I don't believe it. We're—well, you—are fighting for our very lives, and you're running comparison stats in your head._

_It is necessary to do so, Hank. I need to know their capabilities if I am to deal with their threat._

_This still seems like awfully long odds._

_But of course. That's what makes it fun._ There was no one to see, but Omega was grinning from ear to ear.

_Groan. I hadda get The Gambler for a soul partner._

Outward he flew. Past Mars, looping around Phobos and Deimos, using as much cover as he could. Hank noticed that, except for that initial blow to that anonymous warrior, Omega had not actually fought or fired back. This puzzled him, but he wasn't the one running the show. Considering the odds, he couldn't help but be rather glad of it.

Out past the asteroids he flew, dodging and weaving the whole time. Several smaller asteroids were obliterated by the pursuing warriors' energy beams.

_Any ideas as to how exactly we're gonna get these guys off our tail? They seem pretty determined._

_Yes. Our destination is ahead._ Hank could "see" the gas giant Jupiter coming up fast. _We're gonna ditch 'em in there?_

_Affirmative. Watch._ Like a falling star, Omega slammed into Jupiter's atmosphere with enough force to set up shockwaves large enough to swallow Earth's moon. The pursuing warriors followed; this was according to the last orders they'd received.

The planet Jupiter does not really have a solid surface, not like the Earth, for example. Rather, its atmosphere becomes thicker and thicker, going from gaseous, to liquid, finally turning into a kind of slush thousands of kilometers down. Even then, it's not really a surface, but has solid chunks the size of continents "floating" in the highly pressurized liquid gases. Far, far down, there is a solid core. It does, however, have one more or less stable external feature: what human scientists have dubbed "The Great Red Spot." This is a hurricane, but one unlike any seen on Earth. This hurricane could hold six planets the size of Earth, and still have some room left over.

It was into this storm that Omega headed. Hundred-mile-an-hour winds buffeted him, and electrical discharges equivalent to Osiran war-beams threatened him, but he drove on, leading his pursuers deeper and deeper into that red chaos…

Downward, into the liquid mishmash that was the planet's atmosphere. He dodged and turned, weaving in and out of continent-sized masses, passing perilously close to some, actually breaking through others…

Because, for every one he fragmented, meant more chaff thrown up in his wake, that his pursuers had to navigate around, or through.

...

Meanwhile, back on Earth, in Raven's room, an experiment was being tried. Omega's second call had been to Raven, in a spur of the moment, almost desperate, plan. Now, Raven and Terra were standing in the middle of the room, facing each other, eyes closed, hands clasped together. An observer might have thought they were praying. They weren't.

Terra's power was over the solid mass of the Earth. It was simply easier to get a mental grip on solids. But there was no reason why she couldn't also move matter in other states. Such as, say, gaseous.

With Raven's power augmenting her own, Terra was attempting something she'd never tried before, that would never have been possible to her before. She concentrated on the planet Jupiter, visualizing it in her mind's eye, and on the Great Red Spot in particular. Just to the north of it, she seized control of the gas masses, and concentrated on separating the methane, ammonia, and hydrogen from the oxygen, creating an artificial pocket of almost pure oxygen in Omega's path….

The strain was tremendous, and without Raven's assist, she knew she could never have done it, not on this scale, over this vast a distance. But she persevered, sweat running down her face, as she concentrated more and more pure oxygen in one area…

Flying through the Red Spot, Omega saw the gasses parting, and smiled a wolf-like smile. He slowed down a bit, in order to let his pursuers catch up a little. Had they not been so thoroughly conditioned, they would have recognized the trap, but as it was…

He emerged into the bluish area just ahead of the other warriors. Turned and aimed his own energy beams, not at them, but at the vast cloud of oxygen around him….

_Hank?_

_I'm here, 'Mega. What's up?_

_Move over. I'm coming in._ And with that he proceeded to light up the biggest non-solar flare in the history of the solar system.

Oxygen, hydrogen, methane, and other gasses exploded into a single fireball large enough to swallow Earth itself. The pursuing warriors emerged into an inferno unlike anything since the formation of the sun.

...

Drifting through space, beyond the orbit of Europa, was a point of quantum potential. It was many billions of times smaller than an atom, or even a proton or electron. It was, in fact, smaller even than the length of the Planck constant, of 10 to the minus 32nd power, at a point in space/time where space and time don't really matter anymore, and the impossible becomes reality. Commonplace, even.

Within that point, adrift in the formless chaos of the universe's quantum field, and fused together by a power beyond science, beyond sorcery, were two whole, complete beings. _Well, that was some fireworks you set off,_ Hank thought-spoke to the Osiran.

_Yes._

_Think it did the trick?_

_Trick? _

_I mean, did we get all of them?_

_What, you mean killed? Oh, no. They are not dead. I doubt if they are even seriously harmed._

_So what was the point of all this?_

_The explosion, I hope, confused their senses, throwing them off our trail._

_Won't they just go back to Earth?_

_If I judged their condition correctly, no, they should not. They have no orders to return to any particular world, and, being mature now, they have no need of Earth's nurturing environment. So they should simply remain where the find themselves. Until summoned, of course._

_Sorta single minded, aren't they?_

_Non-minded is more accurate. Hank?_ There was something in the warrior's mental tone of voice, some emotional inflection that he'd never heard before. It caught Hank's attention. _I find that I am….disturbed. _

_What about, Bud? You think you might've hurt some of them?_

_No. I gauged their abilities correctly, I believe. What disturbs me is….what's been done to them. I would say they are no longer human, but the phrase is inaccurate anyway._

_You mean, the conditioning?_

_Yes. It disturbs me._

_Well, I guess it'd disturb me, too, if I happened across some guys from my unit who'd been brainwashed. But this conditioning….didn't they use it in your time?_

_A version of it. But nothing at all like what I have observed in these warriors. It's like their minds have been wiped clean of everything that made them people. Does that make sense to you?_

_I hear ya, bud. Yeah, now that I think about it, it's kinda disturbing to me, too. Why would the Lords do something like this to their own warriors, their own people?_

_The only reason I can come up with is that the relationship between the Lords and warriors must've undergone some severe changes since my time. But I cannot fathom why._

_Maybe if we can find a way to communicate with them, maybe we can….what, help them? Do you think that's doable?_

_I do not know. _Hank could sense the warrior's worry. _I only hope we can._


	29. Chapter 29: Metamorphosis

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 29: Metamorphosis

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Back in the Thinkers' hive, Maria continued to grow. She was still a child, still fumbling around in a world of grown-ups, even if these grown-ups were even more confusing that the ones she was used to. But, to a child, the entire world is new, and children learn quickly._

_Plus, she had Bear._

_One of her new moms, the one called "Theta," had brought him to her one evening, just as she was getting ready for bed. "This is Bear," she'd said, presenting Maria with a slightly-worn teddy bear. "He can teach you things, but you'll have to listen. He will come to you in your dreams." And he had. The very first night, she dreamed he'd come alive, really alive, not like a play-alive, but really really alive and she was sitting with him in a cool green glen by a small stream. And she asked him things, like, who were these new people she was meeting, where was she, and, to her, most important of all, where was her real mom?_

_Bear answered, though it seemed to take him some time to understand what she was asking. He told her that these new, odd looking people were from another world (she'd already figured that much out), a world called "Osira," that they were known there as "Thinkers," (the sound of which Maria initially found funny), that they now called themselves the Kindred, and that she was in something called a "hive" (that scared her at first, because she thought of bees, but Bear explained it better as a place to live that was protected and underground), and Bear didn't know about her mom. But the one called "Alpha" had said they would look for her as soon as they could, and he would keep his word. That was important to Maria, because she was a little person in a group of big(ger) people, so someone keeping his word was important._

_What would they do when they found her? But Bear didn't know that. From the way Bear talked, he didn't know anything about the white powder, or why the two scary men had taken her away from her mom. Or why her mom would let them. But the scary men had no power here; she was beyond their reach. And then, during her (frequent) nightmares, usually the one in which the scary me had found her, Bear had been there, somehow, but not the same. Now he was gigantic, like Godzilla, only ten times more fearsome, and he chased off the scary men. And he did better than that._

_He showed her that she was dreaming, and that, while dreaming, if she realized that she was in a dream state, she could become gigantic, too, and chase off the scary men even without his help. After that, the scary men no longer bothered her in her dreams, but she still sought to find her mother. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite so easy._

_Once she learned dream mastery, she often went back to where she and her mom lived, and sometimes her mom would be there, sitting in the kitchen, crying like she had been that awful day. And Maria would try to console her, but usually with no success. And sometimes, her mom would turn into the two scary men, and then Bear would be there, telling her what she needed to do. It wasn't her mother, he explained to her, and it wasn't even the two scary men; rather, it was an image of them in her mind, the way she remembered them, that was causing her to fear. That was why her mother could never tell her what was wrong, and why Maria couldn't comfort her—because it wasn't really her, just something like a photograph or picture that moved. Like a rerun on television. And the two scary men were the same for the same reason. Even though she knew she no longer had to fear them, the last time she'd seen them, she'd been afraid of them, so now she remembered that fear every time she saw anything that looked like them. But things were different now; she wasn't a helpless child any longer, and she had new friends, new moms, and Alpha himself on her side. And she was growing, developing in ways she hadn't expected. In ways that, if the comments she overheard from Delta and Theta were any guide, nobody had fully anticipated._

_And….if the two scary men DID find her….and here, in her sleep, clutching Bear, Maria smiled a smile that her mother would probably have found downright disturbing._

_Maybe SHE'D find THEM._

_To be continued…._


	30. Chapter 30: Aftermath

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 30: Aftermath

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Drifting through space, the point of quantum potential that was the location of the two whole, complete, albeit very different beings, would've been very difficult to pinpoint, even with the help of specialized instruments, due to the very nature of quantum subspace. But within it, the two held conversation.

_Can you sense anything?_ The consciousness of Hank Jones asked Omega.

_No. I can no more penetrate this haze than you can. Which is good; it means the other warriors cannot locate us, either. I will emerge in a moment, to take bearings._

_Is that wise?_

_It is necessary. Even if we have temporarily eluded the warriors, there is the matter of the Thinkers, back on Earth. They, too, must be dealt with, somehow._

_Is there any chance we could, like, talk to them, somehow? From what you've told me, nobody on Earth has the kind of firepower to even get their attention._

_I was always told they were emotionless thinking machines. I have never known any personally; perhaps…perhaps it may be legitimately hoped that I was misinformed._

_Worst case scenario: what if you weren't?_

The consciousness that was Omega sighed. _In that case, Hank, we are all in, what is the Earth expression? Oh, yes. We are all in deep doo-doo._

...

Back on Earth, Terra was lying in the bed she and Beast Boy now shared. She had begun to get her strength back. It had been the hardest thing, the hardest physical exertion, she'd ever attempted. Now she had some inkling of what Raven had gone through, with her spell to reverse the petrifaction of her, before. Of course, Beast Boy was there, as he'd been there for her the entire time. "You know," she said to him, "I don't think I ever told Raven thank you."

"Shh. I'm sure she knows."

"Not the same as saying it, though. And, and, Garfield?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you, too. Raven told me it was your love that fueled the spell. I guess…I guess I owe the both of you big time."

His eyes glimmered in the light from the tabletop lamp. "Believe me, Terra, as far as I'm concerned, just the fact that you're alive and here is plenty thanks enough. More than plenty."

Her hand sought his, out from under the bedsheet. "You and me, Gar. Together forever. No looking back."

"No looking back." His lips met hers….

…

It took Omega a week of careful travel to make his way back to Earth, and Titans' Tower. In that time, something began to go wrong with most Earth communications systems, particularly in the area in and around Jump City.

When he made his way to the comm room, he was greeted with a not-so-remarkable sight: Cyborg, seemingly seminstalled in the main computers. "Hey, 'Mega. Sorry I can't get up…..some sort of a bug problem in the mainframes."

"It is not a 'bug' problem at all," replied the Osiran. Hank had translated the word for him, so he knew it was no computer virus. "It is the Thinkers. They are extending and rebuilding their Linkage systems. It interferes with yours. Here, there may be a way to alter the frequency somewhat…." And he joined Cyborg, halfway into the console. "We must hurry. There is no time to waste."

"What? Why? Is this an attack?"

"Not as you understand the term. It is simply their….communications system is not compatible with yours. So yours is either overridden or….it must be altered, if it is to function at all. Here. If we double the frequency….."

Meanwhile, Robin was on his cell to Batman, at the Watchtower. "So, Omega's sure this is not an attack?"

"No, sir. I gather if it was an attack, it, uh, well, let's just say it would be much more noticeable. No, this is just a communications glitch."

"Some glitch. Half the west coast is affected. We're even getting calls from the military. Apparently their secure communications aren't as secure as they'd like."

Omega's kind didn't swear, but he was nonetheless aware of a certain amount of frustration. This would not be an easy fix. And…he was not really a technician, and he was asking Earth machinery to conform to a configuration it really hadn't been designed to accommodate. He felt handicapped; back on Osira, he'd have simply given the whole matter over to a Thinker and forgotten about it. _Perhaps we were overspecialized,_ he thought. "The problem," he told Cyborg, while they both worked, "is that this is more than an encroaching communications system. It goes somewhat beyond that. The Thinkers can actually remote-manipulate matter and energy, within certain limits, once their system is online and operational."

Cyborg whistled. "Man. That'd be awesome cubed, to the tenth power. I would love to get a look at their complete setup. Too bad we're enemies."

Omega shot him a look. "Perhaps not. That is something I need to bring before the group."

"What?"

"We are not yet enemies to these Thinkers. They are simply getting their, their 'house in order,' I believe the phrase is. Neither side has attacked the other…yet."

"Not even that business with the warriors?"

"No. That was only a small….," and here Omega smiled an odd smile, "….suggestion that they relocate. They should invest no serious emotional energy in that memory. And the Thinkers played no part in that whatsoever." He frowned. "Though I wonder why they did not attempt to contact the warriors.

"But believe it or not, the Thinkers have not yet made any hostile moves. I believe the death of the farmer to be an accident, on their part. Usual Thinker _modus_ _operandi_ is to gather living specimens from a populace."

"These Thinkers….what are they like, as individuals?"

Omega sighed. "I was always told they were emotionless biological computers. I am hoping I was misinformed. There surely must be some common ground for us."

"What if there's not?"

"Then….we have a problem." He soldered a connection into place. "But as I said, no hostile moves have been made thus far. Perhaps none need to be."

"So…..what are you saying? We should, maybe, I dunno, surrender or something?"

"No. " He sat up, his manner tired. Omega was not tired, physically, but he had been wrestling with this matter for some time now, and was exhausted emotionally. "It is a matter for the group to decide, but perhaps, just perhaps, a peaceful accommodation can be reached. On both our sides."

"That'd be great, 'Mega, if they'd go for it." Cyborg sighed. "God knows I'd rather have 'em as friends than enemies. 'Specially if they can do all this with machines. Sounds like we speak the same language."

"Indeed. Well, back to work, as you say…" And the two worked long hours into the night.


	31. Chapter 31: An Announcement

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 31: An Announcement

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Terra and Beast Boy had an announcement the next morning. It was somewhat redundant; anybody who saw the ring on Terra's finger could figure it out.

Starfire couldn't contain herself. She practically hugged them both to death. "My _friends!_ Congratulations! Many, many congratulations!" Cyborg and Robin both pumped their hands. "'s'about blinkin' time, grass stain! I was beginnin' ta wonder if you'd chickened out or something."

Beast Boy was blushing. "No way. I may be crazy, but I'm not _that_ crazy. Say, where's Raven?"

They looked around. "Maybe she's talking to the Orb, " Robin suggested. "Want me to go check?"

"Ah, no, in fact, I believe I'll go find her," Terra volunteered, and turned towards the door. At the door, she turned, giving them a mysterious and slightly nervous smile. "Be right back." _I hope._

Terra didn't even go by the Orb's room. She had a feeling she knew where to find the dark teen. Sure enough, Raven's door wasn't even fully closed. Yet. "Uh, Raven?" No response. "Raven? Please talk to me."

There was no sound, but the door opened fully, admitting Terra into Raven's room. Raven stood in the center, her hood pulled up over her face. "Say what you're going to say, then leave. I have things to do."

Terra went over and sat on Raven's couch. "Raven? Won't you come sit with me?"

Reluctantly, Raven came over and sat, hitching herself as far away from the blond geomancer as she could. Terra could tell she was as tense as a guitar string, and tried to put her at ease, making small talk. That dried up quickly, however, and the two just sat in silence, Raven sitting on the edge of the couch, Terra leaning back against the back of it, her elbow propped against it, legs drawn up under her. "Something I wanted to say, in person and in private: thank you, Raven. If it hadn't been for your spell, I'd be a stone statue to this day."

Raven looked down at her feet. "You're welcome." A long pause. Then, "I-I hope you and Garfield will be, uh, very happy together." Still not meeting the other girl's eyes.

"Raven. I know you love Garfield. Please tell me that, at least once. It's important."

"Why, so you can gloat?"

Terra rolled her eyes. "Of course not. But maybe you need to say it. Maybe?"

Raven rolled her own eyes and sighed. If it would get the stupid girl out of her room... "Okay, already. I love Garfield Logan. Happy, now? He's my best, dearest friend in the whole world. I even love his stupid jokes, not so much because they're funny, but, but just because he never gives up trying to make me laugh. I love his sense of humor, even when I'm grossed out by it, which is frequently, and I love h-how he—he loves me…..e-even when I'm a world-class b-bitch from hell, literally. And now…..now he….and you…." But she couldn't go on; the tears wouldn't let her.

Throwing caution to the four winds, Terra slid over and put her arms around the weeping Raven. "Come here, Raven." The dark girl tried to pull away, but Terra just held her, gently, but with surprising strength. Finally, Raven just buried her head on Terra's shoulder and cried openly while Terra comforted her. "You haven't lost him, Raven. He loves you and loves you still, and nothing's ever gonna change that. And you're my friend, too. All the more so now. And, and wherever we are, you'll always be welcome there. You know that, don't you? Just like you guys made me family, you're family, too." Raven just looked at her, then wiped her eyes and nodded, sniffling the whole while.

Now Terra held Raven at arm's length. "And, and another thing. You aren't just welcome in our home; you're welcome anywhere we are. Understand? Anywhere. Although, " here she smiled a downright naughty smile, "I've a strong hunch you'll be needing a little privacy of your own before long."

"I-I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," stammered Raven. For someone of such a darkling heritage, she was a terrible liar.

…..

The Watchtower: with Omega's help, communications had been restored to most of the west coast. The Justice League called a conference to deal with what some were already calling the "Thinker onslaught," and the Titans found themselves the center of attention, due to Omega/Hank's association with the Osirans. Omega steadied himself. These people had no idea what a real "Thinker onslaught" would look like. Hopefully, they'd never find out.

Batman called the meeting to order. "Alright. What, exactly, are we up against here?"

At a nod from Robin, Omega arose. "Osiran society," he began, "was separated into three different castes. One was the Lords, who exerted a telemental/empathic hold over the rest of us. My caste, the warrior caste, was the martial arm of the race. But what you—we—currently face is what translates roughly as the 'Thinker', or scientist caste. They were intentionally bred for extreme intelligence, and possess a mastery of machinery unparalleled in your world. You would be extremely unwise to underestimate them."

"Is this recent communication breakup an attack?"

"No. Were it an attack, no recovery would be possible, not with your technology as it currently is. No, they're simply….setting up shop, I believe the phrase is."

"Omega….the U. S. military is in favor of a pre-emptive strike. What's your take on that?"

"Unlikely to be even possible, even at this juncture. The Thinkers are still constructing their living quarters, as it were, but they are already firmly in place. Even now, they are quite capable of turning any technologically based attack back upon its source. Plus, they have the resources of the probe to call upon, if they so desire." _That_ got everyone's attention. They hadn't forgotten the Osiran probe, or what it could do. "They can Link directly with it, which I am not able to do."

On the viewscreen overhead, Lex Luthor's image frowned. He and his Secret Society had been conference-called in on this meeting, against the better judgement of some of the Leaguers. "You seem to be saying the battle's already lost, before it's begun."

Omega sighed. "Hardly. I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say this, but there is no battle to be had, not really. Should the Thinkers desire, they could easily take control of this station, or any other technological artifact, regardless of all precautions. I might also add that includes the power rings I note on a couple of individuals present. I have no doubt they could be listening in on this conversation, should they so wish. But they probably do not care to."

"You make them sound like gods." This from Gorilla Grodd.

"If I understand the term correctly, that is not far from the truth. They are certainly masters of technology. Or almost anything that technology can affect.

"I must tell you this: from what I have seen, about the only advantage you have over them is in the area of the energies you call magic. I doubt they have any latent control over that. Should you attack, that would be your biggest gun, I believe the saying is. That, and those of you with extreme physical prowess." He nodded to Superman and Captain Marvel.

Batman grunted. "Your recommendation?"

"With your permission, I offer to attempt to open negotiations, on your behalf." Omega was surprised by the firestorm of debate this began: "dammit, this is our world," "who does he think he is," "but what else can we do," "no time for overemotional gestures," "… pre-emptive strike…," "damn all aliens, anyway, well, except for..." And so on. He sat back and looked at Robin helplessly. "Is it really as bad as all that?" the latter asked, under the chatter.

Omega crossed his arms and shrugged. "I….am actually trying to be optimistic here. After all, do humans negotiate with mice when they build their dwellings?"

The babble died down, and once more Batman addressed Omega. "How sure are you of all this? Do we face only Thinkers? What of the warriors you led to Jupiter?"

"Unless the Thinkers find a way to communicate with them, they should remain where they are. The destroyed wave, I am supposing, consisted of Lords. For this, we may be thankful. Lords do not, would not, negotiate with those whom they consider inferiors. And they would be ten times worse than either Thinkers or Warriors."

"And should we….negotiate…" It was obvious the word left a bad taste in his mouth. "…with these Thinkers….what sort of terms are we looking at?"

"It is not exactly as some of you are no doubt thinking." He raised his voice slightly, addressing them all. "This is not a war, you understand, and no one is asking for terms of surrender…from either side." He didn't add, "yet." "The Thinkers have simply found themselves here, on a strange new world. They did not ask to intrude upon your world, not, you understand, that this bothers them on any moral level. They are not trying to 'take over,' as you would say, not now, at least. They're simply here. And Thinkers are naturals at coexisting with others-they do so with each other all the time. And they have the capability to do what you call terraforming of other worlds…it just takes time and resources. Plus, Osiran Thinkers are accustomed to living underground. Your spheres of influence need not meet, at least not for some time. And by the time some overlap occurs, I see no reason why accommodation cannot be made. By both sides." He paused. "If such accommodation could be reached, I see no reason why the whole matter could not end up being actually beneficial, to all concerned."

There was a murmuring as individuals conferred with each other. Then, after a word with Superman and Wonder Woman, Batman again turned to Omega. "I thank you, on behalf of all of us, for your offer, but it will not be necessary. This is our world, and we will deal with the Thinker threat in our own way." And with that, he closed the session, leaving only the core members to confer with each other, and, via relay, with Luthor's group.

Out in the hallway, Robin turned to Omega. "Well, we did our best. Are you sure there's no hope, with the Thinkers?"

"That depends on what you mean by 'hope'. The Thinkers are here, and I don't see them as going away without good reason. I will endeavor to come up with some way of effectively communicating with the warriors on Jupiter, if you will agree."

"Well…I suppose it wouldn't hurt to come up with a way. I'd rather it be us than the Thinkers. And, uh, sorry if Batman sorta dissed you in there. He can be a little abrupt, at times."

"'Dissed'?"

"Dismissed. Turned down your offer of help."

Omega sighed, looking at the floor. "Truly, I expected no less." He turned to go. "I am, after all, the enemy."


	32. Chapter 32: Drastic Measures

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 32: Drastic Measures

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Back in the Thinkers' Hive, Maria continued to grow. Right now, at the exact moment the conference was going on overhead, she was working out with a punching bag. She had begun a program of exercise designed to help strengthen her, one that her new moms, Delta and Theta, had helped her come up with, as well as the modifications to her own existing body.

Because she had made some changes. Some drastic changes. Thinker technology was easily beyond anything most humans had ever dreamed of, in some cases transcending what humans would call magic, but to Maria, it was becoming second nature. Don't like something? Change it. Add components, or alter existing ones….

Maria, in the back of her mind, blamed herself for what had happened to her. Intellectually, she knew it was not her fault, but that wasn't it. She felt like, if she'd been stronger, her mother wouldn't have given her away to the scary men. She'd have been able to save her mom from the white powder, and fight off or even kill the scary men, and they could've been a family again. If only she'd been stronger.

Well, she was stronger now. A lot stronger. Although still a little girl on the inside, she scarcely resembled the child they'd wanted to exploit. Even the very atoms of her body had been altered, replaced with more _controllable_ ones, her body modified in ways that even Cyborg would've found stupefying. Now she could easily bench-press two tons, and instantly alter her hands and feet into weapons, sharper and harder than any Earthly steel.

(But that wasn't enough, she thought to herself. She wouldn't stop until she could press a _hundred_ tons.

With _one_ hand! No, better still, with one _finger._)

It had been a little scary at first, when she received the first implants that made it possible for her to communicate directly with her new family. At first, it seemed like the noise, like static on a radio, would overwhelm her, but she learned to tune into only those conversation threads that concerned her, though she found everything fascinating.

After all, knowledge was power, and Maria was determined to become powerful. Alpha had said they'd look for her mother, and when they found her, Maria was unwavering in her resolve that nothing would ever come between them again. She'd see to it, herself. If necessary, she'd go find her mother all by herself, and heaven help anyone or any group of anyones who got in her way.

Bear had been a big help. He seemed to know things about her she didn't know herself, but he told her that, actually, she did know them, but didn't let herself know them. It had something to do with something called the _subconscious_, whatever that was. (But he did know some things she knew she didn't know….she wasn't sure how that worked, but actually just didn't think about it very much.) Now he was able to come to her anytime she summoned him, whether she was asleep or not. And he didn't need to be physically present with her; all she had to do was _think_ a certain way, and there he was, her truest friend. She knew nobody else could see him, but that was okay.

Bear was _hers._

_{{Bear?}}_ Punch, kick_, rip, slash_. All the while, Britney Spears' "Stronger" played in the background…

_{{I am here, Maria.}}_

_{{When will we go find my mom?}}_ She had no doubt they'd find her.

_{{Soon, Maria. Very soon.}}_

…

_I don't really believe you, you know,_ Hank's mental voice filtered through Omega's brain, as the latter was walking through the corridors of the Watchtower.

_Of course not. I cannot take this matter passively. I have, after all, taken a vow, made a promise. Such are not taken lightly, nor dismissed casually._

_So what are you going to do?_

_What only I can._

…_.._

The ancient Osirans had been masters of their universe. Much of that mastery consisted of mastery of themselves, of their own biology, but each caste had its specialty. The Lords specialized in domination over the others, in power and control. The Thinkers were masters of the sciences. And the Warriors….

They had their own technologies. Plural.

Omega waited patiently while he transported down with the others, it having already been determined that the teleporter system would not work on him. Once back at Titans' Tower, he secluded himself in the room assigned to him—to _him_, and not Hank—turned up the heat and gravity, both to be more comfortable and also in order to ensure that he would be undisturbed, and went to work.

The 3D printer in his room was a pitifully far cry from the matter replicators of lost Osira, but it would serve, it would serve….especially with a few modifications. He began pulling up the specs on it to see what its limitations were, and how to get around them, as well as what materials he could request without arousing undue suspicion.

A few times he heard passersby in the corridor outside his door. Once, someone, Cyborg, from the sound, stopped, apparently in amazement at the thermal readings coming from his door, then muttered something about aliens and went on his way.

_Hank?_

_I'm here, bro._

_I have seen an Earth cartoon of two prisoners tied up in a dungeon. They are unable to move, let alone escape, and are under constant guard. One turns to the other and says, 'Now here's my plan.'_

_Heh. I believe I remember that one. But what does that have to do with all this?_

_Now here's my plan…._

…..

Back at the Hive, Maria received a message: _Maria: come to my office._ It came from Alpha himself.

She practically flew to the part of the Hive where he had his office, all the while thinking it strange, that he chose to communicate with her this way rather than through Link. To Maria, Linking was now not just second nature, but normal, and ever so much more efficient that speech ever was. She had a hard time understanding her old self, limited to multiple spoken words per concept!

Alpha was seated at his desk, numerous controls blinking and beeping around him. _I understand you wish to go find your mother._

_Yes, Father, I do. I must._

_I told you we would help you, and we will. I, too, am curious why she did what she did. Have you any insight on that, from your researches? _ Quite unintentionally, he'd become fond of this human girl, caught up in her passion to reunite her family. It was something he could relate to, in a way. He sought to bring _his_ family, the Kindred, into this strange new world in the best possible way, and to see them successfully make it their own.

_I….believe so._ The girl glanced down towards the floor. _It has to do with something called "addiction," and "drugs." Apparently, some chemicals can get into a person's cellular makeup in such a way that they make them do things they normally wouldn't ever do._

Alpha leaned back. _Maria…child. I am not trying to hurt you in saying this, but you do realize that your mother probably gave you away in exchange for this drug, correct?_

_I am aware, Alpha._ And now Maria—or the being she'd become—raised her eyes and looked him in the face. _And it is worse than you think, Father. I know now what those men wanted me for._ And she quickly shared with him her studies regarding internet and child pornography.

To say that Alpha was stunned would have been a gross understatement. The very concept actually made him physically ill, something he mastered with difficulty. _Are—are you sure of this? What possible evolutionary advantage could there be to, to such behavior?_

The being across the office from him smiled coldly. She raised her hands, morphing them into razor-sharp blades harder than steel. _One very good one, Father, albeit one I doubt they foresaw. You see, now I can find them….and remove them from the gene pool. Permanently._

…

The battered Ford pickup drove down the streets. It was much as Maria remembered it, from that day that was burned forever into her memory. But some things had changed; there seemed to be more street people hanging out, gang colors everywhere. And there was more graffiti than she remembered.

_Are you certain of this, daughter? _Delta asked, driving the garbage strewn streets. She was in disguise this time; her belt projected a holographic image of a adult human male in the driver's seat.

_Yes, Mother Delta. I have to do this. I simply have to. And I have to do it alone._

_We could go in together….._

_No, Mom. I have to see if she's there. She may've moved. Or….something._ In the back of Maria's mind, vague fears began to assert themselves. Her mother might not live here anymore. Or…her mother might be dead.

If that were the case, Maria prayed to the Holy Virgin and all the saints for just a few minutes alone with those responsible.

Kenneth "K Dub" Williams was surprised by the young _latina_ who just appeared in his doorway. What was the little _chica_ doing here? He knew he didn't know her, and he knew almost everyone around here.

Pretty girl. Maybe about 10 years old or so, or so she looked, wearing jeans and a shirt. Standard kid apparel. But there was something about her that set off some alarm bells, told him to be on his good behavior. K Dub could be charming, yes, very charming indeed, when need be.

"Eey, _chica_. Whassup? You lookin' for somebody?"

The being in front of him smiled. Something about that smile made him nervous. "Why, yes, actually. I'm looking for a Mrs. Angela Marco. She used to live here, not long ago. You wouldn't, by any chance, know anything about her, or where I could find her, do you?"

"Mrs. Marco?" He thought, scratching his head. That name did sound familiar….he'd been renting this place for a few months now from the previous owners, some unsavory types, but who had what he needed when he needed it. "No, can't say I do. Maybe my landlords might? But, but, you need to get your _mamacita_ or someone to talk to them. I wouldn't go see them myself, if I were you. They're—" and here he twirled his fingers near his temple, "—a little out there, you know what I mean? I mean, they're…they're not nice men, sometimes. A little girl, I mean…." He paused, helplessly. He honestly didn't want to endanger the child, and she was just the right age to "disappear."

The girl smiled wider. "You know that's sweet of you. But I really need to find these men you spoke of. So I'll have to ask you how to find them. And as for their not being very nice, you really needn't worry," and here K Dub thought he was losing his mind, because it seemed like something in her hair had moved….or could the hair itself be _moving_? He felt a little faint. "You see…I'm not all that nice myself these days."

…..

"Robin?" Starfire's voice sounded worried. "We're getting a report from the precinct of the 27th. Apparently, there's been an assault on the side of the south. It is of such nature they wish us to look into it."

"Let's go."

Once there, he went straight to the officer in charge of the crime scene. "What've we got?"

The man gestured. On the floor lay Williams, sightlessly staring at the ceiling. All around him, paramedics were arranged, testing and probing. He was breathing, but not deeply, and apparently in a coma. "What you see. Report called in, screams heard, no shots. Responded, found him like this." He showed Robin the file on Kenneth Williams. It wasn't large; a few minor drug charges, two counts of possession with intent, but nothing of a truly serious nature. "He's kept his nose pretty clean. But he won't wake up. EMTs are saying it's a reaction to some drug, but I've never seen a drug that'll do _this_."

"Fingerprints?"

"We've dusted everything usable. Nothing. The only prints in the house are his."

One of the EMTs came over. "Well, we've done about all we can for him. He'll need to be hospitalized. If pressed, I'd say it looks like an allergic reaction to something, but I don't know what."

"What's his condition?"

"Basically catatonic. He's breathing on his own, but that's about it. But we did get this." He showed Robin a report. "Spots of blood on the floor around him. Nothing big; not enough to cause anything like this, but obviously the result of some trauma. It's his blood, too. Nobody else's. Forensics proved that. But take a look: it seems to've resulted from a number of tiny puncture wounds, almost like pinpricks, only smaller, in the area of his head."

"Puncture wounds?"

"But so tiny. As small as human hair filaments. Couple hundred of 'em. What could've caused that?"

"Good question, gentlemen. Good question, indeed."


	33. Chapter 33: The New Apprentice

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending chapter 33: The New Apprentice

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Back at the tower, Omega's device was shaping up. Now, it just needed one last ingredient, or perhaps component would be a better word….

Omega left his room, ignoring Raven's astonished look at his heat signature, and his other self's protestations, and made his way to the Orb's room. {{Orb? May I speak with you?}}

{{**You may. Enter.**}}

Once inside, he swiftly outlined his plan. "And unless you take a hand directly, I see no other way out of the matter." He was careful to use his newfound ability to speak. After all, there were secrets to be kept, even from the Orb.

Assuming that to be possible in the first place.

{{**I see. I am not sure about your plan, but I see why you ask what you ask. Yes. Very well, I will undo the fusion process. Prepare yourselves…**}}

-_discontinuity-_

Omega crawled back to his room, fighting the cold. He'd been dying when the Orb found him, and he was dying now. But if he could just make it back….

Terra found him crawling along the floor, his strength clearly failing, and gasped. She'd never actually seen anyone in the act of dying before, but some things are obvious. Hank drifted alongside of him, concern on his face. "Terra! We need you! Get him back to his room…not mine, but his! Right now! If he dies here, it's all over!"

She concentrated, sweat popping out on her forehead as she felt the Osiran's full weight. It was like lifting a bulldozer.

The section of flooring the geomancer was levitating trembled as she guided it down to the Osiran's room. Hank flung open the door, gasping back as the searing heat hit him full in the face. "Throw him in there!"

"_Throw_ him? In _there?_ Shouldn't we get him to sickbay? He's looks pretty sick!"

"It's important! C'mon, do it!" She eased the block of flooring into the room, and Omega slid off. Hank shut the door.

The others had collected during the commotion, and now took up stations around Hank. "What's going on?" asked Robin.

Hank was gasping with exertion himself, still feeling the effects of the separation process. It hadn't hurt quite like the fusion had, but it was no picnic. "He…he had an idea. It may not work, but….quick, Cyborg, get to your instruments. Look for alterations in the local space/time metric."

Inside, Omega hooked himself up to the machine he'd built. It was a rush job, as Hank would say, but perhaps it would do. If he could just activate it….

Down in his lab, Cyborg's instruments came alive. Those dependent on the constant factor of the Earth's magnetic field began to shudder as the magnetic field began to shift…..

{{Alpha? You need to see this….}} Beta Linked the data from his sensors to him. {{Some sort of alteration in the geomagnetic field, as well as the gravity field of Earth itself. I cannot tell what is causing it, nor where it is centered.}}

{{You don't need to. I recognize these energy patterns.}}

{{You do? What is it?}}

Something very like a snarl escaped Alpha's lips. {{It's that accursed Prime warrior. He's subverting the Matrix. Quickly, implement modifications 238-3…}}

Back in his room, Omega lay on the floor, quietly connected to his device. Starfire had to go in and turn down the heat so the others could get through. Hank rushed over to his friend's side, checking him as best he could. "What's going on, Hank?" asked Robin again, carefully staying away from all furniture in the room. The temperature had been slightly below the boiling point of water, and objects were still steaming.

But Hank had no time to answer him just yet. "Big idiot, you just hadda go'n'do this, didn't ya." He couldn't tell if the Osiran was conscious or not.

"But what did he _do_?"

Hank sighed. "He took over their system. Some sort of tech warriors used…he could literally hook into, or hack directly into, their system and commandeer it, but only if he connected straight into it." He pointed to the wires coming from the odd headband design around Omega's head. "I only hope he survives the process." In the back of his mind, he wondered: Omega had gone back to the point of death when they were separated, yet he had not reverted to his coma state. And while he fervently hoped he didn't, he didn't understand why not…

…..Unless the Orb had had something to do with it. He made a mental note to go ask, as soon as he could.

…..

Meanwhile, what looked like, but was not, a little girl was walking along the mean neighborhood streets, perfectly at ease, looking for a street number. Ah, yes. Here we go….

"I can help you, you know." This from a calm voice behind her. She whipped around, not recognizing the tall, heavily muscled man in the blue and tan suit.

A man with one eye.

"Who are you?"

Slade spread his hands. _See? No weapons._ "Someone who can help you….Maria. Someone who knows what you seek, and knows a thing or two about seeking retribution, just retribution, on those who've wronged you.

"Someone who knows what happened to your mother."

Maria started. How did this man know who she was? There was something menacing about him, but, right now, Maria _liked_ menacing. "You know my mother?"

"No. But I know what happened to her. And to you." His voice dropped low, barely a whisper. "Those men wanted to use you in their perversions, and hooked your mother onto those drugs so she'd give you away. It's normal to want revenge for a thing like that. I can help you get it."

Maria looked at him. "Why would you help me?"

"Why shouldn't I? Vermin like that don't deserve to live. And, yes, perhaps if I help you, you'll help me on a ….. project of mine. Our interests could…coincide, so to speak. We could help each other."

Maria narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust this tall stranger, but her internal sensors showed him to be only slightly superhuman. No match for her, physically. That was reassuring. "Alright. But one thing: I'm not Maria anymore." She straightened up, morphing into an older, almost adolescent form. "I'm _Angelique._"

Slade smiled beneath his mask. Yes. Someone younger, or in some way more isolated from his or her peers…..she'd do nicely.


	34. Chapter 34: Before the Storm

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 34: Before the Storm

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Robin had called a meeting of the Titans. "Alright, here's what we know. Omega and Hank are now separate, which is good, I guess, but Omega did something, something to subvert the Thinkers' matrix or whatever it was they were installing that was making our equipment go bonkers. Cyborg, have your instruments picked up anything?"

"No. Everything's stable. For now, at least."

"Hank? Can you still communicate with Omega?"

_There is no need for that, Robin_. Omega's voice echoed in everyone's skull. _I can now communicate with you directly._

"Huh. Well, good. So. Just what did you do, and why?"

_I implemented a subversion technology we warriors occasionally employed in hostile territory. I am now in control of the Thinkers' matrix._

"For how long?"

_Until they build a new one. That won't take long, but I am in control of this one. I have already begun implementation of certain key components here in the tower. Terra, you don't mind if I use your old room, do you? It will take up some space, and for reasons I can't go into, does not need to be totally underground._

"Oh, uh, sure, 'Mega. Go ahead. I'm, uh, not using it anyway." She blushed, reaching for Beast Boy's hand, which was never far from her own, these days.

_Thank you._

"Omega, what about you? You didn't seem to be doing well there, in the corridor."

_I was dying. Right now, were it not for the matrix, I would be dead. I am not certain why; I was by no means old or injured in any way I can remember. But with the matrix, perhaps I can restore myself to good health. I will have to remain connected to it, at least for now, in order to foil the Thinkers' attempts to regain control._

"Uhm, right." Robin rubbed the side of his face. "Do what you need to do, but, you know, look out for yourself, too. You're part of the team, too, you know. Aside from being a valuable team member, you're our friend. We don't want to lose you."

There was a pause, almost a shocked silence. Then, _Thank you, Robin. I….appreciate your concern._

….

Hank approached Raven's room, nerving himself for the ordeal he feared was coming. But this was something he had to do…

He signaled for entrance. A moment later, Raven cracked the door, gazing out at him. "Yes? What can I do for you?" She remained wary; for some reason, Raven was _uncomfortable_ around this man.

"May I come it?"

Raven thought hard about that. Normally, she didn't like outsiders in her room; that had been a habit she'd only recently begun to shake. Perhaps she needed more practice…."Very well. But I am busy. Please be brief." And she opened her door wider to admit him.

Once inside, and after looking over the décor with widened eyes, he turned to her. "Raven, there are some things I need your help with."

Raven turned to her teapot. Tea and talk, they seemed to go together. "Would you like some tea?"

"Uh, yes, thanks." They both sat on the couch, Raven crossing her legs, while Hank tried not to stare at them. Such luscious legs…."Uhm, anyway. Why I'm here. I, uh, guess you heard about Beast Boy and Terra?"

"Their engagement? Yes." She sipped her tea, remained calm.

"Well. You know. Certain arrangements need to be made. You and Star will be Maids of Honor, right?"

Raven started. A Maid of Honor? Her? Somehow she couldn't picture it. Yet, she admitted to herself, it was only logical. There really was nobody else. "Well, I-I suppose I will be…." She set her tea cup down on the end table. "I'm sure Starfire will be overjoyed. But what is this about arrangements?"

"Well, I thought, if it was okay, I'd bring in my mom to help. She'll be in seventh heaven. But of course, she can't do everything by herself. You're more familiar with Earth customs and traditions than Starfire is; perhaps you could work with her? Plus I…" And he swallowed, his mouth suddenly desert-dry. "I….uh, I'd like you to meet her. A-and vice versa, of course."

Raven sat very still, hardly breathing. "Me? You want me to meet your mother?"

"Well, yes. I'd like all of you to meet her, and my dad, too, of course. After all, I intend to be around a lot."

"Oh? I thought, once you were separated from Omega….."

He sighed, looking down at the carpeting. "That brings me to my second reason for coming here. Raven, I need your help."

She looked at him. "For….?"

"Watch." He indicated a chess piece over on the other side of the room, frowning in concentration. The Bishop levitated and wafted over to him, landing in his hand.

Raven watched, eyes wide. "Well. That was…..unexpected. When did this happen?"

"Since not long ago. I thought, at first, it was a side effect of my being bonded with Omega, but, as you see…." He shrugged. "I'm not very strong—yet—can't levitate anything I can't physically lift, but….something else. I-I've been 'hearing' people's thoughts, sorta. I mean, you know we don't think in words all the time, but sometimes in concepts or other things…. I see to be picking those up, and I'm not sure how to go about dealing with all that. The telekinesis, maybe that alone I could handle, but the telepathy, which I'm assuming this to be, that may be beyond me." He looked at her, a haunted expression on his face. "I was once trapped in the prison of my own mind; but I can see being trapped in a prison with no walls at all, and everyone's thoughts running through my head, drowning out my own, drowning _me_ out. I need to learn how to, to filter that out, turn off the input, turn up the squelch, or whatever term covers it, so to speak. Can you, would you help me in that?"

Raven turned to her teapot, hiding a small smile. "I….might be able to help you there. I _do_ know a thing or two about self-control."

….

{{_Daughter, I am unsure about this Slade person._}}

{{_It is alright, Mother Theta. Even if he betrays me, I could easily kill him. And I feel he knows that. That alone will keep him honest._}}

Theta looked at her adopted daughter. {{_If he were to betray you, I would see to it he wished for the mercy of death. But I do not trust him. Nor should you._}}

Maria hugged her adopted mom. They were nearly the same height, now. {{_It will be alright, Mother Theta. And, if he can help me find my real mom, and those men, it will be worth the risk. Then, if need be, I can just….quit working with him. Once I have what I need…._}}

{{_And what would he have you do, as part of your end of your bargain with him? Has he told you?_}}

{{_He only wishes help with a project of his. He wants to get a certain group of troublemakers out of the way. I cannot see any harm in that. From what he says, they've caused no end of havoc and destruction again and again. So I'd actually be doing the world a favor. I might even be considered a superhero! Maybe the President would give me a medal or something. Wouldn't you and Mother Delta be so proud of me?_}}

Theta hugged the child of her heart close. {{_We are already proud of you, daughter. Human awards mean little to us, but the fact that it would mean a lot to you makes it mean a lot to us. So. When do you start working with him?_}}

…..

Beast Boy sat alone in his meditation room, something he'd only recently begun to implement. It hadn't been an issue before; when he was younger, he seldom felt the need for meditation, but lately….

One thing almost nobody understood was that he did not really change shape in the sense of simply shuffling his molecules around. That alone would not account for his ability to morph into animals far larger or smaller than himself. Rather, what he did was to take control of his own personal evolution, and literally _re-evolve_ himself into whatever he chose. When he became a kangaroo, for example, he became the kangaroo he would have been had he been born one, with a kangaroo's instincts and abilities, the only difference being his green coloration and his human intelligence, which he somehow retained.

But what nobody—except Raven, of course—understood was that all that morphing left echoes in the form of residual instincts, leftover feelings from his animal alter-egos. It wouldn't do to have a human body controlled by animal aggression, as he'd found out—kind of—when he'd been doused with biochemicals some time ago. The reaction to those chemicals had caused him to morph into something the Earth had never seen, that he'd never imagined possible. A new creature entirely. And one in which his animal self was in control…..

It had frightened him more than any supervillain ever had.

So, seated in the lotus position on the floor, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his inner universe, focusing on his basic core of humanity, nurturing and strengthening that, letting all else slough off….

And tried to ignore that still, small tingle in the back of his mind that had always meant danger, before.


	35. Chapter 35: Wedding, and other, plans

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 35: Wedding, and Other, Plans

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Martha Jones looked at her son's new friends. They were all so _young!_ And these two, this Terra and her young man, Beast Boy? Why, they were little more than children themselves. "My, my. So you two are getting married? When's the big day?"

"We thought June 19th would be good."

"Did you have a place picked out? This is a church wedding, isn't it?"

"Uh, well, actually, we hadn't thought that far ahead, ma'am…."

Martha rolled her eyes. Yes. They were children. "Alright. Let's make it a church wedding. Nothing like a good church wedding; makes it official to the max. Do you have a church in mind? No? Good; I'll speak to my pastor, Reverend Reed. I'm sure something can be worked out. Now. There are some things to think about. Have you thought about catering, the cake, etc.? No? Okay, that's actually a good thing. We'll just start from the ground floor up. Now. Who's the Maids of Honor? Yes, dear? What did you say your name was?"

"I'm Raven, Mrs. Jones." Raven steeled herself, and stuck out her hand for a handshake.

But Martha Jones was having none of it. She caught the dark teen in a motherly hug. "So _you're_ the Raven Hank's been telling me about! He certainly didn't exaggerate." She released Raven, completely oblivious to the latter's discomfort at the hug. "Well, it's good to meet you, dear. You've got to come to church with us sometime."

Raven colored, regaining her composure. "Ah, I'm not sure if that would be a good idea, ma'am. I am, after all, the daughter of an extradimensional demon lord."

"Pish tosh. Can't be any worse than Rob's first cousins. They're all Seventh Day Adventists; they do _everything_ backward. Come along; we've a lot to discuss." And she led a blushing and thoroughly flustered Raven off.

But that night, Robin was surprised by a soft knock on his door. Terra stood outside, alone, looking nervous. "Uh, h-hi, Robin. Uhm, gotta minute or so?"

"Sure, Terra. C'mon in. Gar's not with you?" He looked up and down the hallway.

"No, he-he doesn't know I'm here." She nerved herself. "Robin, I may have a little problem."

Robin gestured her into a seat, and went and closed the window. He liked to smell the salt sea air in the evening, just as it came off the ocean. But open windows were an invitation to eavesdropping, and he had a hunch about what Terra was wanting to talk to him about. Turned and took a seat opposite her.

Terra sat on the very edge of her seat, clearly uncomfortable. For a long moment, there was an awkward silence between the two of them. Then Robin spoke up. "So. The wedding plans are coming along?"

"Y-yes. There's-there's just so much to do, I didn't realize all that it took…."

He nodded. "It's daunting. I'm no expert myself, but I imagine Mrs. Jones is quite at home with these matters. And she likes you and Gar. So, I'd say you're in good hands."

"Yes." Again, an awkward pause. Then," Robin. I…I may have a problem." She brushed the hair out of her eyes, only to have a strand fall right back over her face. He waited. "I….I…..oh, damn, I don't know any good way of saying this." She got up and paced over to the window, eyes down, left hand rubbing her right arm.

He studied her. "Perhaps I can save you the trouble. Mind if I make some guesses?" She nodded, face hidden: _go ahead._ "Okay. Something to do with you and Gar, right? Something involving you two. Something intensely personal." A nod. "But something Gar doesn't know about. At least not yet, right?" Another nod, her face turned away from him. "Terra, are you pregnant?"

She hung her head. "I don't know." It was barely more than a whisper, but the Boy Wonder's ears picked it up easily in the quiet room. "I-I missed my period." Now she turned to him, anxiety in her face and voice. "But lots of things can cause that, right? I mean…" She wrung her hands.

Robin held up a hand. "Have you and Garfield…..?" She turned away again, hiding her face. "No, we haven't. That's the thing. If, if I am, and if it were his, I'd be overjoyed. But, but it's not, if it is, and, and that only leaves one other person."

He stared at her. "But, Terra…that was two years ago! Oh. Wait." His eyes widened. "I forgot. Two years you spent frozen in stone. Right. I see….your concern."

"Robin, what do I _do_?" The girl was desperate.

He rose and went over to her. "Well, first thing, don't panic. It may not be what you think it is. I'll have Cy check you out tomorrow morning. But you need to make up your mind what to do if it _is_ what you're afraid it may be."

She shook, tears running down her face. "I can't let Garfield know. Please don't tell him. I mean, that other, the sex, that was over and done with. _Long_ over and done with. But this…..Robin, what will I do if I am pregnant with Slade's child? I don't think Gar would understand."

He curled his finger under her chin and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "You aren't giving him enough credit. Terra, Gar loves you more than life itself. He forgave you that business with Slade, the betrayal, the sex, everything. So did we all, but he especially did. But if you are pregnant, you need to come clean with him about it, too. Otherwise, you start out by keeping secrets from him. That's not a good way to start a marriage."

"Please don't tell him!"

"I won't. This is between the two of you. But you may need to be getting used to the notion of telling him, preparing yourself mentally and emotionally for it. Then, if it doesn't happen, so much the better.

"But do you really think it's the right thing to do, to keep it from him, a secret? I mean, yes, today you do have options, but….."

She sniffled, drying her eyes. "Yes, yes, I see what you mean." She coughed and sneezed, and he got her a box of Kleenex. She smiled wanly. "Maybe I should start buying these in crateloads. I seem to go through 'em so often."

"Terra…."

"I swear, Robin, if I could just totally erase my whole time with Slade, I would. Not one good thing came out of it." She sighed, blowing her nose. "I must have a black belt in stupidity or something."

"Terra, don't do this to yourself. It may be nothing. But even if it is, I think your and Gar's love for each other is strong enough to overcome it." He raised a hand at her expression. "I don't say it'll be easy. As you say, the other was over and done with long ago. This….can have lingering….effects….depending on which route you take."

She dropped her gaze. "You're talking abortion. I-I just can't see it. I mean, the baby isn't to blame. _I_ am. Maybe—maybe I should abort myself…."

He reached out and grasped her roughly by the arms. "Terra. Don't even joke like that. You're family now. Do you have any idea what that would do to us? Let alone to Gar. And here on the eve of your wedding, yet."

"Okay, okay. Bad joke. But it's like something out of a bad soap opera. Pregnant by your worst enemy."

"You don't know that you are. But even if you are, it could actually work to bring you and Gar closer together. Weathering bad times often has that effect. And I have faith in Garfield Logan; he's not the same boy he used to be." And he once again tilted her face up to his. "And I have faith in you, too, little sister. Even if it's what you're afraid of, it's not the end of the world. So don't treat it that way. 'Kay?" And he kissed her forehead.

She blushed and fumbled for another tissue. "I need," she began, "to start going out on patrol with you guys. After all this, supervillains will be like going on a vacation."

"Go to bed, Terra. Things will look better tomorrow."

After she'd gone, he sat back in his chair and removed his mask, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Kids," he muttered, "how'd I wind up with kids?"

His mentor would've found the question familiar.


	36. Chapter 36: Some Revelations

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 36: Some Revelations

_A collaboration between OoBluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

….

Down in his room, Omega was finishing the installation of the Osiran matrix generator. He'd used it sparingly so far, mostly to maintain his own life (and why had he been dying, anyway? For that matter, why couldn't he remember why? He could remember everything else…), and to complete the matrix generator. In operation, it functioned very much like what the Earthians would term magic: all one had to do was link with it (and he'd have to find a way to manage that for unaltered humanity, but some way that bypassed the human subconscious; Hank had already filled him in on enough horror stories about monsters from the dark underbelly of the human psyche to make him shudder), request a project or a communications link, and the semi-intelligent supercomputers that were part of the matrix handled the rest. Not only was it lightyears ahead of anything humanity had to offer by way of communication, it would also allow them to build literally anything they could imagine.

But finally the last necessary component was installed. Omega accessed the matrix to see what he needed to do to heal himself; with the matrix, it ought to be easy.

And yet it wasn't. Something about him resisted the restoration process. _Now what?_ He wondered, increasing power to the machine. It drew its operational energies from quantum subspace itself, what humans called the zero-point energy field, so it posed no strain on any human power grid.

Why should his body resist healing? For that matter, in what way was he damaged? He sought to use the matrix to find out…only to run up against a most unexpected roadblock.

For some reason, his body seemed to reject the healing capabilities of the matrix. Why? He probed deeper, seeking to restore his memory. He remembered Osira, and dying…..

_He'd been ordered to die by a Lord._ The Lord's telempathic hold over him ordered his body to shut down. But _why?_

Memory came to him, of a conversation he'd recently had with Hank: _The only reason I can come up with is that the relationship between the Lords and warriors must've undergone some severe changes since my time. But I cannot fathom why._

Now memory came flooding back. Yes, the warriors' relationship with the Lords _had_ undergone some severe changes….and he'd been at the heart of them.

{{_Warrior. You have been convicted of crimes against us, the Lords of Osira. _

_Saboteur_

_Betrayer_

_Mutineer_

_Renegade._

_The penalty is death. Die now!_}} Omega wanted to sit bolt upright and rip the connections loose from his head, but couldn't. This could not be happening! This was not him! He'd always served his Masters faithfully…hadn't he?

Across the hallway, Hank suddenly sat up, his eyes automatically going towards the door as if he'd heard a scream. Without thinking, he tore out across the hallway to Omega's room. "Omega! Buddy, what's going on?" The Osiran had been lying still on the floor, but now twitched spasmodically. Hank moved closer, trying to sense his former connection with the alien warrior….

Omega's mind was in turmoil. He'd been untrue to his Masters; he'd been fighting against them rather than for them. But their justice had caught up with him, and he was being executed. It was only right. He was guilty. He deserved no less than death for what he'd done.

_No! Omega! Buddy, come back to us!_ Hank's mental voice was frantic.

But the Lords of Osira had decreed he die, and he must die. It was only right.

_NO! Listen to me, Omega! The Lords are GONE. They no longer matter! All that matters is, __you're__ here. I personally don't give a rat's ass for what you may've done…if you did it, you must've had a good reason! C'mon…fight it! You have to!_ And he hit the alarm.

The Titans boiled out of their respective rooms, automatically converging on the source of the siren. Hank appeared to be trying to hold onto Omega's wrist, and was speaking soft and low. He turned to them, and to Raven in particular. "Raven! We've gotta help him! It's the Lords….some kinda posthypnotic suggestion is killing him!"

Raven steeled herself. She hadn't attempted this often, and only then in the direst of emergencies, but now was the time if there ever was one. "Everybody link hands. Focus on me…" She linked up with Hank, and shared the full story with the others: _We have to try to reach him._

_Can we, Raven?_

_Only if we work together. Everybody, now focus on Omega._

In Omega's mind, he was already dead. And well he should be; he'd betrayed his Masters, the punishment for which was death. It was only just.

But the Titans' linked minds reached his. _Omega….you've got to fight this. All that, that's in the past. All that matters is the here and now. And you're our friend; we don't want to lose you. Fight it! Fight it! You have much to live for!_

But why? Why should he fight the great darkness? It was only just…..

_What you are calling justice need not be what's right. Come back to us, Friend Omega/Bud/Big Guy. Come back to us. It doesn't have to be this way._

So easy just to let it happen. Just let go and let the Lords' will be done. It was the Osiran way.

{{**Omega.**}} The Orb's disembodied voice sounded over the clamor of the others in his mind. {{**You promised to be the champion of these Earthians. If you are to do that, you must put aside your past.**}}

The Orb was right….he'd promised to be the Earthians' champion. But it was all so hard, to fight thousands of years of conditioning, not to mention the terrible power of the Lords.

And yet….he must.

And…..he had something now that he'd never had before: friends. Not just allies, not just comrades in arms, but actual _friends_, people who really cared about him, beyond their need of him.

He had a reason to live. And, he was being called to fight. He knew how to fight.

In his mind's eye, he envisioned the assembled Lords, as they must have been at his execution. He raised his head to look at them. {{_You may well be Masters of Osira. But you are no longer Masters of me. I reject you! I defy you!}}_

_{{Such insolence,}}_ echoed through his mind, a slow rolling thunderbolt of horrendous strength. {{_Ours is the only way; you must submit. Submit and die.}}_

In his mind, the_ no longer_ warrior who'd come to be called Omega rose unsteadily to his feet. What he was about to do went against everything he'd ever been taught, conditioned to, or learned. {{_No. I will be your slave no longer.}}_ He pitted the force of his will, backed by his _friends'_ concern for him, against theirs, willing his body to live, to heal. {{_I no longer serve you. I am my own Master, now, and will serve my friends, and my new world. Begone from my mind!}}_ And the force of that final defiance tore through his mind, blowing away the phantoms of the past…

…..which was all they had ever been, anyway.

Omega coughed, not from the need to clear his throat, but from a reflex of breathing. He sat up, removing the connections from his head; the others watched, concerned. "It…is alright. I am well. Thank you. Thank you all. I believe the Earth expression is, 'didn't see _that_ coming.'" He blinked up at them. "Evidently, I've a more checkered past than I realized."


	37. Chapter 37: First Contact

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 37: First Contact

_A collaboration between OoBluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

"But what was it, Omega?" Robin asked. They were gathered in the kitchenette of the Tower, with some of the Titans indulging in a early morning breakfast.

"I….am not completely sure even now. But it seems I was either the leader of or an integral part of a revolt against the Lords. Quite naturally, being a threat to them and their power, they sought my death, even to the point of eliminating all others of my series of warriors. The warriors we encountered here, the ones I lead to Jupiter, were supposed to be an improved version, improved meaning, of course, that they were incapable of rebellious action such as I exhibited."

"Omega…..these Lords sure don't sound like nice people." This from Terra.

"Apparently, I agreed with you. Agree with you still. We may count ourselves fortunate that their wave was destroyed.

"But….something. While I was connected to the matrix, I was able to Link in with the probe, partially. Its task here isn't over."

"What's it gonna do?"

"Unclear. But it will be hazardous to human life. I have to find out, and take what steps I can to stop it."

That's when the alarm went off.

…

Time: a few minutes earlier: Shelley Kowalski had reported in late for her job at the First National Bank of Jump City. Hurrying to her window, she was relieved to notice only one person in line: a little dark-haired girl of about twelve or so. Pretty little thing. Odd how there was no one else around her.

For her part, Angelique was not relishing what she was about to do, but Slade had explained it all quite well. The bank was behind all the foreclosures she'd heard of in the news, clearly a case of a miscarriage of justice. The bank was robbing people! People went to the bank when they needed money the most, and what happened? The bank took their homes, cars, and all their belongings. How could anyone just stand by and let that happen?

The troublemakers acted to defend the bank, because they were in on it. Probably the bank paid them to keep people, good people, people who only wanted what was right, away. She had wanted to confront the troublemakers themselves, in person, but Slade (who seemed to know what he was talking about) told her that was a bad idea. "Never engage an enemy on their own ground. Always make them come to you." That sounded wise. And so this naturally followed.

She approached the teller. "Yes, I'm here to make a withdrawal, please."

"Certainly, uh, Miss. Do you have an account with us?" Shelley busied herself with the necessary withdrawal slips, for when the girl presented her ID and bank account number.

"Actually, no. But I still need to make a rather large withdrawal." And Angelique went into action…

….

"Okay, simple bank robbery, possible metahuman involved. No need for all of us to go. Terra, you've been wanting to go out on patrol; here's your chance," Robin explained. "You go with Gar, Raven, and Cyborg."

"YIPPEEEE!" She was so excited she didn't notice the look on Beast Boy's face.

It was somewhat less than thrilled.

….

By the time the Titans had arrived at the bank, the place was a scene of devastation. Cars had been tossed about or apparently blasted, and the entire front wall of the bank was missing. Why was not difficult to determine; the heavy gauge vault door had been ripped from its hinges and thrown into the street. "Okay," said Cyborg softly, his arm already morphing into his sonic cannon. "What could've done this?" Even Cinderblock would've had a hard time producing this much destruction in so short of a time.

"Well!" said a cheery voice from within the destroyed lobby, "Took you long enough! I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show. They should dock your pay; slow response time." It came from what appeared to be a little tween-age girl, wearing jeans and a pink "Hello Kitty" tee shirt, standing in the shadow of the wrecked building.

"Do you know anything about—" Cyborg stopped in mid-sentence when the girl's arms both morphed into fusion cannons, and Angelique opened fire.

While the Titans were busy dodging, or blocking her fire, Angelique herself was fighting disappointment. This wasn't all of them. And Slade, whose experience she'd come to respect, had given her clear instructions that she was not to kill them unless she had a chance to get them all. "If you only kill a few, it'll alert other, more powerful beings. They'll be ready for you next time. That'll escalate matters. We don't want that…yet. So just disable them, humble them, let their masters see their hired servants are powerless before you. It'll be enough, trust me, for now."

Raven dodged and levitated a car, hurling it at Angelique, who swatted it aside with almost casual ease, and once more leveled her fusion cannons at the sorceress. Terra levitated a block of solid rock into a shield for them, while Cyborg kept hitting her with his sonic. It wasn't working. He morphed one of his arms into the EMP projector he'd used recently against the HIVE Five, and succeeded in knocking her back on her backside. Snarling, she rose and fired a salvo at him, which he barely dodged, getting behind Terra's shield just in time. "What are we dealing with!" shouted Raven, above the din.

"Just a guess? Not a little girl." It was hard to hear over the noise.

"Really. I'd never have guessed."

A green dragonfly buzzed over Angelique's head, and morphed into an African elephant, its twelve-ton weight smashing her into the ground.

But only momentarily. "You'll have to do better than that," laughed Angelique, as she extended her arms fourteen feet and levered Beast Boy off her, throwing him into the side of the building, into which he crashed, producing another hole in the building's already sundered side. "That's probably coming out of your bonuses!" she taunted, only to be taken by surprise by two granite blocks, which slammed into her from opposite sides like bookends.

The blocks disintegrated under her strength, and she aimed for Terra, only to be knocked off her feet by a green African Cape buffalo. She skidded several yards, righted herself, and, turning to face Beast Boy, aimed for him. "Oh no, you don't," muttered Terra, levitating, not solid blocks, but loose gravel and dirt into her face. It swirled in a cyclone about her, interfering with her sensors and blocking her weapons. Angelique cartwheeled out, faster than human, and sent a sonic burst of her own towards the geomancer.

The force of the blow caught Terra by surprise, and flung her fifteen feet. Groggily, she picked herself up….

Cyborg had been firing salvo after salvo from his EMP cannon at Angelique, with little effect. Now he combined the sonic cannon with the EMP, producing something new. Due to the difference between sound and electromagnetism, it was necessarily short-range, but it succeeded in knocking Angelique head over heels into the alley way. "That does it," she snarled, rising to her feet, already repairing the damage, "I don't care what Slade said; you die NOW." And Angelique began to summon her full power.

Unnoticed in the battle, a small dog darted out of the alleyway, running to get away from the fracas. Overhead, a ledge broke loose, falling towards the running puppy….

Angelique's eyes grew big. "No," she said quietly, "Oh, no." She morphed her body into a protective shell, and flung herself around the terrified animal. The fragment of building crashed down upon her harmlessly, splintering into a hundred pieces.

Angelique unfolded herself from around the dog, cradling it in her arms. "C'mon, puppy, I won't let the bad people hurt you." She turned to the Titans. "You hear me? I won't let you hurt any more innocent people. Or dogs. So consider yourselves lucky. _This_ time." And she activated her teleportation circuits and teleported herself back to the Thinkers' hive.

The Titans looked around, picking themselves up. Beast Boy went over to Terra, concerned. "Honey, you okay?"

"Yeah, just….banged up a little." She managed a shaky laugh. "Be sore in the morning, though." She rubbed her arm, which was already purpling up in a massive bruise.

Cyborg was sitting up, his self-repair circuits busy repairing what they could. He'd taken some considerable damage, and would have to spend time in his own lab for a full refit. "Okay, people, what just happened?" he asked of the group in general.

"We just got served by Dora the explorer," supplied Raven, surveying the damage. It looked like a major war zone.

The whole battle had taken less than thirty minutes.


	38. Chapter 375: Puppies!

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 37.5: Puppies!

_Actually, this was supposed to be part of chapter 37, but somehow got left out. So I'm posting it, short as it is, as an add-on to chapter 37, hence the "37.5" designation._

_A collaboration between Oobluebubbles and Nitebreaker_

{{_Please, Mother Delta, can't I keep him? Pleeeeze? I promise I'll take good care of him. Promise!_}}

{{_I don't know, daughter. We'll have to take the matter up with Alpha…we really aren't equipped to keep Earth animals here…._}}

{{_He'll be no trouble, an' I'll take care of him myself, feed him and everything. You'll see. He'll be the best doggie ever!_}} And she hugged the puppy to her.

The little dog didn't know what sort of creature this was that was holding him, but he knew he was loved, and that was really all that mattered to him. He turned and licked her face, making her giggle. {{_See? He likes me, Mother Delta. Pleeeeeeeeeeezze?_}}


	39. Chapter 38: Pillow Talk

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 38: Pillow Talk

_A collaboration between OoBluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

"Good Lord. What hit you guys?" Robin asked in a shocked voice, as the quartet limped in. Raven had taken some hits herself; even though her shields had blocked Angelique's fusion beams, one had hit the ground in front of her, knocking shards of rock and pavement behind her shields into her face. Fortunately, she wouldn't need stitches; Hank was already applying disinfectant and band-aids.

"Something like a cross between Plastic Man and me. On steroids, yet," said Cyborg, delaying his own much-needed repairs until the others had been tended to. "I recorded the battle. Let me get fixed up and we'll review it."

…

{{_Please, Mother Delta, can't I keep him? Pleeeeze? I promise I'll take good care of him. Promise!_}}

{{_I don't know, daughter. We'll have to take the matter up with Alpha…we really aren't equipped to keep Earth animals here…._}}

{{_He'll be no trouble, an' I'll take care of him myself, feed him and everything. You'll see. He'll be the best doggie ever!_}} And she hugged the puppy to her.

The little dog didn't know what sort of creature this was that was holding him, but he knew he was loved, and that was really all that mattered to him. He turned and licked her face, making her giggle. {{_See? He likes me, Mother Delta. Pleeeeeeeeeeezze?_}}

…

Back at Titans' Tower, the injured team members were busy recuperating. Cyborg was in his lab, restoring himself to peak condition, Raven was meditating, and Beast Boy was massaging the Okaaran ointment into Terra's bare back. "Mmmm," she moaned, "that feels soooo good. Where'd you learn to give a massage like that, anyway?"

"You, uh, really wanna know?"

The word _Raven_ went through Terra's mind as she replied, "uhm, on second thought, maybe ignorance is bliss on my part." His hands found knotted tissue and worked it, expertly soothing her aches and pains, and she moaned again. This was almost as good as sex. Almost. "Be your turn next. You can show me how."

"Terra. We need to talk."

She turned and looked at him, and for a moment, he was afraid she was going to turn over. She wasn't wearing anything above the waist, and the sight of Terra's bare breasts was something he just wasn't ready for, even though he longed for it with all his heart, not to mention other portions of his anatomy. "Uh oh. Sounds serious."

"Well, it is, kinda. Look, today, well, you were awesome out there. We probably wouldn't have survived without you. I mean, that was some serious fighting going down, over there."

"I sense a 'but' coming…"

He sighed and, turning from her, sat on the edge of the bed. She wrapped a sheet around herself and sat by him. "But….well, you know how I turn into animals, right?"

"I'd heard that rumor." She playfully nibbled his earlobe. "Personally, I'm waiting for you to turn into a different kind of animal…"

"Terra, please. This isn't easy for me to say." He got up and walked to the other side of the room. Turned to face the girl sitting on his bed, the girl he wanted to forge a life with. "I don't want you going out on patrol with us anymore. At least not for a while," he blurted, then stopped, embarrassed.

"What? Why, Gar? Did I do something wrong?"

"No! No, you didn't do anything wrong, it's not that at all. It's just….I have all these animal instincts that carry over from when I transform and, and, and…," Here he turned to her, and took her hands in his. "Don't ask me how I know this, but I _know_, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if you go out with us again, that you'll die. And, and, I couldn't take that. I, I really couldn't. I mean, I spent two years without you before, and they were the worst two years of my life. I don't want to spend another moment, let alone a lifetime without you. I, I just couldn't." His face was absolutely serious. "So, please, Terra, if you love me, would you do this for me? Just this once? Please?"

Terra looked at him, her own face paling at his utter conviction. He really believed it.

Meanwhile, up in Raven's room, Hank was busy giving Raven a massage of her own, the difference being, Raven was fully clothed. "Not meaning to come off as a lech," he said, "but this'd go over better if I could get to your back."

Raven smiled. "Lech. Maybe some other time. But you know it's difficult for me to open up to others, whether it's emotionally or physically. Besides, you're doing a pretty good job as it is. Where'd you learn this?"

"In the service. Being on patrol, alert every second, you tend to get all wound up. Helps to have a buddy un-tense you. So I had some hands-on experience. Literally."

"You learned well. Hank?" Something in her tone of voice caught his attention. "I've—I've noticed the way you look at me, sometimes. Do—do we need to talk about that?"

"I'm ready if you are." He finished up, and she sat up, sitting beside him on the bed. Tried not to show how terrified he was. Even IEDs hadn't scared him this much.

"Hank….I sense you have feelings for me. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't have…certain feelings…for you. But…."

"But what, Raven?"

She sighed, looking down at her hands in her lap. "It's not easy. Not easy for me to say. But….I do have problems with relationships. I, I don't know if I'm ready for one. And I don't think you have any idea what you'd be getting into, if, if, I mean…"She floundered, seeking the words.

He took her hands in his. "Raven. I know you have difficulty with this sort of thing. I heard about Malchior, so I know. You've been hurt, badly. I know you're reluctant to get into another such relationship. But, I just want to let you know how I feel: you're the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me. I-I believe I'm in love with you." Here he raised his hand to forestall her response. "I know, you may not feel the same about me. That's okay. I'll wait as long as it takes, do whatever it takes to, to get you to feel the same way about me."

She turned away from him. "Hank. You don't know what you're asking for. I'm the daughter of a demon lord. A real, live demon lord. There's a lot of darkness in me, and sometimes I'm not in total control of myself." Here she sighed. "Besides, you….you could do so much better…"

He again took her hands in his. "Raven….I don't WANT 'better'. I want YOU. Would you, can't you, accept that?"

Raven blushed a deep crimson all over her face, not meeting his gaze. "I-I don't know how I feel…I don't know what to do in a case like this."

He curled a finger under her chin and turned her face up to his, gazing into her eyes for a long, long moment. Then he bent down to her and kissed her.

Raven's eyes went wide with surprise, and she started to pull away, but didn't; instead she threw caution to the winds and returned his kiss, throwing her arms around him and standing up on tip-toe. After a long moment, they parted, their arms still around each other. Raven smiled up at him. "Wow," was all she could say.

"Wow indeed." He grinned at her. "So. Whaddaya say?"

Her face clouded over, and she turned her face away from him. "Well, I don't know…." Whereupon he turned her face to his again and kissed her again. And again. And again. "Are-are you gonna keep on doing that?" she whispered breathlessly

"Until I get the answer I want, yes" And he kissed her yet again, sending a tingling sensation up and down her spine…

_I should put a stop to this,_ she thought to herself,_ I don't want to hurt him, I'd sooner die. But it feels so right, so good…..aren't I allowed a little happiness?_ All the while conscious of the sensuous feel of his lips on hers, his body pressed up against her own….

"Alright, Hank Jones, " she smiled, leaning her head against his shoulders, "just don't you ever say you weren't warned."

…..

Down in Beast Boy's and Terra's room, Terra lay awake, pretending to be asleep. She could feel her lover's breath upon her, slow and regular. She could also feel, with some amusement, the bulge in his pants that was usually there when they slept together like this, entwined around each other. But it was just so _comfortable_, not to mention sexy as hell. No doubt he could feel her nipples through her thin sleep shirt—that was probably why he didn't wear a shirt to bed. She smiled as she thought that, and wished she hadn't agreed to wait until the ceremony to Do the Deed with him, but he'd been adamant. "I want you to wear white," he'd said.

"But, but I'm not…!"

"Doesn't matter. That other, doesn't count. You were underage. Technically, legally, you were raped, Terra. I don't care if you were willing or not; Slade shouldn't have done what he did with you. Rape, underage sex, doesn't count." And he'd kissed her. "Surely we can wait that long."

"Al-alright. But only under one condition."

"Name it."

"The night before the ceremony, we sleep naked. As in totally buck naked. Together. Like this. Without sex, if you want to. I want you to know what you're getting into, lover."

"Terra, I—"

She had put her finger over his lips. "No buts. Otherwise I rip off this shirt and jump your bones right now." Her expression softened. "I need it too, Gar, and I want you more than I can say, and for reasons I can't say. At least not now. So. Please?" And she'd shivered in pre-orgasmic ecstasy.

How could he refuse those azure eyes, that pert nose, those oh-so-kissable lips? "O-Okay. It's a deal."

And so she nestled into his body, enjoying his warmth, the _feel_ of him, and looked forward to that glorious night…and the even more glorious one following it.


	40. Chapter 40: The Parent Trap

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 40: The Parent Trap

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Dear readers: Hope this begins to answer some questions you may've had regarding Tara. I can say no more, except, of course, I don't own the Teen Titans or the characters associated with the animated series or the comic books. But I guess you know that by now._

_If the chapters don't seem to be numbered correctly, it's my own fault, my own inexperience with 's posting system, and I'm trying to correct it as best as I can. Please bear with me._

Robin had a problem. Actually, he had two problems, and had summoned Starfire, Hank, Raven, and Omega to his room. As they filed in, they took note of his serious expression. It worried them. And why hadn't he summoned Terra and Beast Boy, too? "People, we have a problem. Please, everybody take a seat, and I'll explain." After they were seated, he produced some transcripts, computer read-outs, and digital recordings. "As you know, we have—quite illegally—bugged the Zharkov's house. What I've found out is….disturbing, to say the least. What you're about to hear is typical." He played the recording, which consisted mostly of normal conversation, discussions of chores to be assigned to Tara and the latter's protestations at the unfairness of it all…in short, normal family conversation. At one point, Tara evidently left the room in a huff—and all conversation ceased. Abruptly. It did not resume again until she returned to the room where her two parents were. She asked permission to go out with her friends, was asked if she'd done her chores, replied in the affirmative, and was given permission. After she left, all conversation again ceased. Not one word was spoken. Except for the rattling of a newspaper and the clink of dishes going into the dishwasher, one could've heard a pin drop.

Robin spoke up. "I hope I'm not the only one with chill bumps on my arms. Apparently, when Tara isn't around, her 'parents' … just don't talk. Am I the only one that finds that somewhat abnormal?"

"So what are you saying?" asked Hank.

Robin handed him a medicine bottle the 'bots had fished out of the garbage. It was from an "Edal's Pharmacy." "I don't have to tell you there is no 'Edal's Pharmacy' listed anywhere. And 'Edal's' spelled backwards is 'Slade'. Who, it just so happens, is a master of robotics. The medicine itself is a compound related to the dilantin family, but slightly different. They use it, in much stronger form, out at Arkham, for riot control. It neutralizes their powers temporarily. It's the metagene inhibitor.

"And as for the reason Gar and Terra aren't here…my eavesdropping has revealed that Tara has a crush on Gar. A huge one. And she believes Terra to be dead. And Tara apparently has powers similar to Terra's. In other words, dangerous. And no training whatsoever in how to use them. I think that earthquake she caused the other week was due to her forgetting to take her medication that morning. So that matter will have to be handled….delicately, to say the least. After all, what might happen if she goes into a jealous rage?

"So we may need to make plans for an emergency extraction, and, yes, possible containment of a metahuman in the near future."He leaned back and sighed. "I'll have to break the news to Gar and Terra personally. Cyborg, you might want to get with Terra and figure out some way of containing Tara harmlessly. I mean, we want to help her, we don't want to come off as jailers or anything, and Terra'd be the one to advise you on how to do that. But only after I've had the chance to talk to her and Beast Boy, okay? The rest of you, be ready." And he dismissed them.

…

_Another interlude_

Tara Zharkov wasn't sleeping as soundly as she used to. She loved her parents deeply, but some sense-or combination of senses-told her something was wrong.

Not wrong as in "divorce wrong," but a different kind of wrong altogether. Like many teenage girls, she palled around with her friends and they'd laughed about the times they'd heard sounds of passion coming from their parents' bedrooms. Tara had never heard that. Once she got old enough to realize that people did that sort of thing—especially married people—she'd found herself unconsciously listening for such indications of sexual activity from her parents. Purely out of curiosity, of course. They _had_ to've "done it" at some point—she was proof of that, wasn't she? And yet, strangely enough, when her folks retired for the night, and she had, on occasion, had the chance or reason or, more commonly, excuse, to pass by their room, she'd not heard any sounds whatsoever. Not even any snoring, which she understood to be common enough in adults, at least.

Once, she had to go to the bathroom and chose to go to the one down the hall, past her parents' room. She'd stopped and listened, briefly, but had heard nothing. No sounds whatsoever. Apparently, when her parents turned in for the night, they were as silent as statues. Somehow that didn't seem right to her.

Without really thinking about it (at least not in those terms), she prepared a special backpack with a change of clothes, a couple of bottles of her medicine that her mom insisted she take, some water and a few cakes, and a few other items, one of them a good sharp "survival" type knife that she'd bought at a sporting goods store. In short, though she didn't think about it like that, she'd prepared a "bug out bag." Just in case, you know. After all, anything could happen. The communists could attack, or terrorists, or, or, anybody.

She kept it behind her dresser, near the window, which was close to the rain gutter. She'd occasionally experimented with sliding down the rain gutter (when her parents weren't home, of course), and she'd gotten pretty good at it.

She lived on the second floor and kept her window unlocked at all times. It was true that burglars could get into houses with unlocked windows fairly easily, but somehow she wasn't as afraid of that as she was of being trapped inside with…

With what? For the life of her, she couldn't have said, but some sense in the back of her mind told her that her home would not always be a safe sanctuary for her. She couldn't have said how she knew this, but she knew it, nonetheless. So she tried to be ready, although she couldn't have said what she was trying to be ready for. Anything, she hoped.

Tonight, she had to go to the bathroom, as, as usual, rather than go to the one in her room, she went to the one down the hall, past her parents' room. She stopped and listened for a moment…..

Nothing. No sounds whatsoever.

She continued on down the hallway to the main upstairs bathroom. Pulled up her gown and sat on the toilet. There was a magazine there, by the commode. One of her mom's, _Cosmopolitan_ or something like that. She didn't really care; it gave her something to do while she was doing something.

She flipped through the magazine, looking at the pictures of the gorgeous women in the advertisements. She wished she looked like that, or would, when she grew up. Well, maybe she would, but, in the honest portion of her mind, she doubted that. She thought of herself as "ordinary," not bad looking, but maybe just a little plain, perhaps. Maybe she'd grow up to be beautiful like her mother. That was possible.

_*boop*_

What? What was that? It had seemed to come from down the hallway somewhere

_*beep*_ There…..the sound came again, a different sound. It sounded like it came from her parents' room. But why would boopings and beepings be coming from there?

Then she smiled. Of course. One of her parents, probably her dad, had bought her a new video game of some sort, and, being the conscientious dad he was, was making sure it worked properly before giving it to his daughter as a present. Of course. That was the only possible explanation.

She got up, cleaned herself up, and went back to her room. Her dad had bought her a present! That was great! She had the greatest parents in the world!

So why was she still so nervous?

_End of interlude_

_To be continued…_

….


	41. Chapter 41: Control

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 41: Control

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Dear Readers: a little more about certain relationships. See what you think. Please R&R._

At the Hive of the Kindred:

_{{Daughter, I am sorry, but you cannot keep the animal here. He would contaminate our experiments; that cannot be allowed.}}_

_{{But, Father Alpha…!}}_

_{{I am sorry, child, but there is no further discussion to be had here. You will have to find some other place for the dog—Charlie, did you say his name is?—to live. That is all there is to it.}}_

For a long moment, Angelique looked down at the puppy in her arms, tears running down her face. She knew better than to try to argue any further with Father Alpha; it would simply do no good. Then a thought came to her….

_((I know! Mr. Slade! He'll take care of Charlie for me!}}_

….

It would be safe to say that Slade had a problem. Actually, he had several problems, but one was uppermost on his mind at the moment. It was nearly time for the harvest, but that would not be for a while yet.

The problem had a name: Angelique.

Terra had been a different story altogether. She had been physically, psychologically, and emotionally dependent upon him. No matter what her power level, as long as those factors worked in his favor, she was his.

Angelique was a different matter.

She _had_ a family, one that he had no control over whatsoever, and little knowledge of. Slade knew—intellectually—as much about parenting as any human. She did not yet respect him to the point of accepting any form of discipline from him; if he told her to go to time-out and she said _no_, what would he do about it?

Nor could he physically beat her, as he had Terra. She'd cheerfully rip him in half, enhanced human powers or no. She was, after all, a child. Children step on bugs all the time. All other accepted forms of disciplining children of which he was aware ran up against the same roadblock. He needed _ leverage_ of some sort…..

"Mr. Slade?" said a familiar voice behind him. He whirled around, barely avoiding combat stance, when he recognized the voice as be Angelique's. She was standing there in the middle of his clockwork control room, looking as though she'd been crying, and holding a small mongrel dog in her arms. "Mr. Slade? Would you keep Charlie for me? I found him the other day and I want him to stay with me. He can't stay at my family's place. Could you keep him here? He won't be any trouble…."

The words _ask and ye shall receive_ went through Slade's mind. His mask hid his smile. "Of course, child. Charlie can stay here. I'll even build him a special yard all for him, with a doghouse and everything. And I'll see to it that he gets his necessary vaccinations and shots…." _Especially one very special shot_… "After all, we're partners now. Partners look out for one another, don't they?" He knelt before the weeping girl. "Don't worry; I'll take very good care of Charlie."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Slade! You're the greatest!" And she flung her arms around his neck in a hug, careful not to crush either him or Charlie.

…

Breakfast at the Zharkov's: Tara cast sly eyes towards her father as he sipped his coffee. "Uhm, anything new going on, dad?"

_Sip._ "Not particularly. Say. Don't you have graduation coming up soon?"

"Why, now that you mention it, so I do. But it's not quite yet."

"Have you thought about college? I mean, your GPA is certainly high enough…"

She squirmed. "I've talked about it with the school counselor. He's recommended several, but I'd rather go local, if I can, you know."

Her father smiled. "Wanna be around your old man all the time? What happens when you meet some nice young man? Or," He added, with a mischievous look, "Perhaps you already have?"

She squirmed some more. The subject made her somewhat uncomfortable. Just this morning, she'd been showering and suddenly thought of _him_, of the positively _delicious _way he filled out that spandex uniform (he'd taken to wearing one of red and white, with short sleeves; she found it quite the improvement), of how he'd held her there in the hospital, of the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice…..and she'd quite unconsciously found herself touching herself, touching herself _down there,_ in that _forbidden _place, and running her fingers across her nipples, which sprang erect, pleasing her all the more. She thought of herself as the "small tits type", but maybe this would make what she had more appealing to…..certain people. She'd learned, long ago, to keep quiet while pleasuring herself like this, but it wasn't easy to keep from at least whispering, or, more accurately, whimpering, his name…. "I don't know, dad. Maybe I'm a little young for things like that, you know."

"Trust me, Tara, you're not too young. But it's no crime to be shy about your feelings for someone, you know. Maybe you need to let…..a certain someone…know how you feel. Be a bit more direct, you know."

Tara rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, dad, he gets supermodels thrown at him almost every day. What've I got? I mean, really."

"Well, a lot of young women who aren't supermodels enjoy very happy relationships, you know. You never know; you might be one of them."

This conversation wasn't going quite the way she had hoped. "Well," she sighed, "maybe I will, if I can and if I see him again. But that's unlikely."

"Perhaps not as unlikely as you think. And that reminds me: I have something for you." He got up from the table and went into the next room.

What could it be? She wondered, hoping it was a magazine featuring a certain green individual, or, more likely, that video game she'd heard him playing with—uhm, make that _testing out_ for her during the night.

He came back in with a brightly colored box. "Here. This is for you." It was the latest iteration of the portable Playstation, and came preloaded with the "Teen Titans" video game.

She squealed with pleasure. "Oh, daddy, you didn't have to!" All the while, flinging her arms around his neck.

"Sure I did. Nothing's too good for my little princess. Now," he said, looking at his watch, "we'd best be going. I'll drop you off; you can play with the game station when you get back."

At school, she could barely concentrate on her calculus. She was so excited! She'd get to play as _him_—it might be the closest thing to getting him she'd ever be able to manage, but it would be _something._ Or maybe she could play as another character, either friend or foe. It didn't really matter. She'd be _in his universe_, even if only to move a colored blob of light on a screen around, it would still be _something._ Some way of interacting with him, and, better still, some way of being in control of said interaction. That appealed to her.

Once home, she tore into the box—and her dad must've been really good at repairing the damage done to the packaging; she couldn't tell it had ever been opened—powered it up and lay back onto her pillows on her bed in her room to see what she could see.

The game wasn't the standard commercial game; maybe her dad had got a customized version of it from some foreign outlet or something, but it worked. The menu screen offered her the choice of levels, characters (friends/foes), and, for some reason, she chose to play as Terra. Strange, really. But why not? He was in love with his lost sweetheart; what better way to get to be by his side?

Now that was odd. The character of "Terra" was the only character that could be played as either friend or foe. Or, even, as both, simultaneously. Hm. Why was that?

Well, anyway. Time to get started. She began scrolling through the character stats and power levels, controls, etc.

…..


	42. Chapter 42: Plans, Good and Bad

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 42: Plans, Good and Bad

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

The train was automated, of course; with the track providing direction, it only needed a small onboard computer that determined time and speed. It wasn't equipped with the necessary artificial intelligence to enable it to deal with the small figure on the track ahead. Even had there been any human on board, there was no way it could have stopped in time, anyway.

Angelique faced the train, Mr. Slade's words echoing in her head: _"Angelique, I have some unpleasant news for you. Charlie is sick. He has a very rare disease that sometimes dogs get. There's no cure for it, but I can keep him inoculated to hold off the effects of the disease. Now, I want you to understand: this procedure is very expensive, the medication hard to acquire, and while I am quite wealthy, I can only afford to keep Charlie healthy only so long as we remain partners. If that should change in the future, I won't be able to help Charlie any longer. Do you understand?"_

_He'd seen something flicker in the back of her eyes, something dangerous. Perhaps he'd moved too quickly. But then she said, "Yes, Mr. Slade, I understand. And you don't need to worry; I want to bring down those troublemakers as much as you do. Maybe even more. So. What do you want me to do next?"_

The train's insignificant AI realized that there was an obstruction on the tracks, but it could do nothing to stop itself. Angelique crossed her arms in front of her, morphing them into barbed blades more than a yard long. She flickered them down onto and through train's tracks-_slinnngg!-_severing the steel easily, then shifted to flight mode and moved up into the air. She didn't wait around to hear the crunching _booooooooooooooooooooooom_ as the train met the irregularity in the tracks and derailed, its cars accordioning in on themselves, some crashing into the mountainside itself, most piling up, mashing together, spilling their contents out onto the countryside.

Oil and gas ignited, becoming an inferno that began to rapidly engulf the surrounding wooded area. Angelique paused in mid-air, to make sure no animals were being harmed. She knew this would send them from their homes, but they were fast enough to escape the blaze. Now. Where were the troublemakers?

A firefighting / hazmat team had arrived, and was desperately trying to contain the fire. Angelique didn't care about them. They weren't the problem. In point of fact, had they not responded, she probably would've tried to contain the fire herself.

The point had been to create a disaster that the troublemakers would have to respond to. That hadn't happened, and she couldn't figure out why.

"'Morning, lover," chorused Terra and Beast Boy as they woke up. It was such an incredible experience, to wake up together, in each other's arms. They kissed…..

The door signaled. Sighing regretfully, they unwound themselves from each other and got up, Beast Boy pulling on a clean uniform. "Ya'll missed breakfast," said Cyborg, when the door opened. "Not to worry; I'll fix more. But Terra: Robin wanted me to run some tests on you today. Ya got pretty banged up yesterday," his mouth said, even while his eyes said _I am lying_, "and he wanted me to make sure you're okay. So get dressed, come on down to my lab, and we'll get started, 'kay?"

Down in Cyborg's lab, he rapidly hooked her up to his diagnostic machines, Beast Boy fidgeting in the background. His cell rang; it was Robin. _"Beast Boy, I need you and Raven to go back to where you fought that creature at the bank the other day. Between the two of you, you should be able to pick up some clues as to its nature."_

"Shouldn't Omega go, too? He's got some pretty impressive senses."

"_Omega's busy trying to link back into the probe. No, it's just you and Raven. We need more intel on that thing, whatever it was."_

He sighed. "Alright." Turned to Terra, still on the hospital type bed. "Gotta run, duty calls. You gonna be okay here?"

"Sure. Been here lots 'o times. Go on; I'll catch up with you later." And he kissed her before dashing off.

Cyborg looked at her. "You know the real reason I brought you here, right?" She nodded, soberly. "Well, from what my instruments are telling me, you have every indication _of having been_ pregnant, chemically, hormonally, but there's no trace of any embryo. And I've looked. Carefully. Womb, fallopian tubes, everywhere. Nothing." He turned to her. "Terra? How well were you eating, before joining up with us, that first time?"

"Uhhmmmmmmm, perhaps not all that well."

"Malnutrition could well be a factor in some of your, uhm, symptoms. My suggestion is to start a heavy vitamin regimen. Well, everything else appears normal. You can go." She breathed an audible sigh of relief as she got up. So. Nothing to tell Garfield. Good.

Up in his room, Omega listened carefully to the conversation, then went to a very special secret compartment he'd designed and constructed for eventualities just such as this. Within was a clear plastic tube, sealed at both ends, and containing fluid and a silvery irregularly shaped object: a human embryo encased within a field of complete time retardation. With the help of the matrix, it had been what the humans called _child's play_ to remove it from Terra via teleportation. It might be interesting, he thought, to someday see what the union of Terra and Slade brought about, in terms of genetics, of course. The embryo within was, for now, frozen in a time stasis field and would neither change nor grow. But it could be implanted in someone at some future time, to be brought to term. Or even birthed artificially. Yes, it might be interesting to see what sort of being would emerge. Someday. He replaced the tube, carefully locking it away behind multiple security barriers.

Now. Back to work Linking with the probe….

….

Slade couldn't understand why the Titans hadn't responded to the train wreck. After all, it was a _train wreck_, f'goshsakes, and that was usually the sort of thing they went after. But his link through Angelique's optic system couldn't lie. They hadn't come. Where were they?

His signal board beeped, indicating some abnormality. He had his own army of detection devices in Titans' Tower, some of which had escaped removal. But now one was signaling for attention. Something unusual had been found. He switched on the monitor.

There; in one of the spare rooms the Titans reserved for guests: a ten-foot sphere of _something_ floated in mid-air. Something that, if he'd had to assign it a color, would've had to've been called black. It did not rest upon the bed, because the bed had been removed, as had the desk and chair. No, it simply floated there in empty air. He found he couldn't really _see_ it as such; it was more like he could see where it was _supposed_ to be. Now that was curious.

Now it seemed to turn in midair, though he couldn't say how he knew this as it had no discernible features, to where it was looking at, well, at _him_ directly. Impossible, of course. Even if it had detected his bug, it still should not have given him the impression of being right there in the room with him. But it did, and it made him nervous. So he deactivated the bug and ordered it to self-destruct.

The disappearance of the object from the monitor screen did nothing to lessen his unease, however.

Things were getting complicated.

….

Tara was enjoying the Playstation game immensely. For some reason, it seemed a natural to play as Terra, and she frequently chose to play as "foe," though she couldn't have said why, had anyone asked her. She was learning Beast Boy's moves perfectly, and felt a secret thrill of pleasure whenever she defeated him. But now she moved to another level of the game, one that had a complication she hadn't anticipated.

Here, on this level, not only was she fighting Beast Boy (and why should she enjoy _fighting_ him, anyway? She'd much rather…..nevermind. That wasn't one of the game's options), but now she was fighting Beast Boy, the Titans,_ and Terra_. In other words, she was fighting a copy of herself. Well, her game self, anyway. Now that was curious. She'd never heard of _that._

Overcoming the obstacles thrown up by her game alter-ego wasn't easy. There seemed to be almost no limits, and, of course, being that she was playing against the computer, she was fighting a more skilled opponent than she herself was, at least at the moment. But overcoming "Terra" was also proving to be challenging, to say the least. Usually a boulder could take out Starfire, say, but "Terra" could just throw it back at her. So she found herself resorting to a two-pronged attack: a feint, with the real attack hidden from view somehow, until the last moment. But even that had its drawbacks: "Terra", that "Terra," could sense anything her Terra did with the earth, and usually counter it, somehow. So sometimes it came down to a matter of sheer power, her game self's power against the power of her opponent. And, often, the game would report a "feedback error," and shut down. So direct confrontation didn't seem very productive. She'd have to resort to trickery.

She got so involved in the game that she sometimes neglected to come down for dinner, and had to be called. But curiously, her parents never seemed upset that she got so enthused about a mere video game. In fact, they seemed rather pleased by it.

"So," her mother asked while they were eating, "seen any more of that nice Beast Boy lately? In the flesh, I mean. Not on the game."

"No, mom. Things have been pretty quiet lately, I guess. Well, there was that bank robbery a while back; I missed seeing the news reports, but I heard about it. Some sort of morphing monster attacked a bank downtown. I heard it was a real tussle."

"You know," her father mused, "I don't know anything about what it's like to be a superhero, but I sure they need to feel _appreciated_, for doing what they do. Everyone does. Isn't Valentine's Day coming up? You could send him a card. Maybe with an invitation to lunch or something. I mean, I know it's supposed to go the other way around, but sometimes a certain amount of innovation is good. Breaks the ice, so to speak. Hands across the ocean, or the bay, in this case."

She was taken aback. Her father, who'd always (sorta) discouraged her from dating, actually suggesting she _ask Beast Boy out_? What was the world coming to? "Daaad! Are you actually saying I should I ask him out?"

"Weeellllll, maybe some. He certainly seems to've taken an interest in you. I mean, he's saved your life more than once. I, for one, would like to meet him and thank him for that. And you know, he may be kinda shy himself. Not want to come off as some sort of big shot. Lotta guys are like that, the best ones, at least. The ones who think they're the answer to your prayers are the ones I wouldn't trust with my little princess for anything."

She sat back. "It's just….I don't see what he'd see in me."

"Tara…don't be so hard on yourself. I know I'm biased, but you're really a very pretty young girl. He'd be foolish not to see that. And you've got a lot of other good qualities, too. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, you know."

"Well…alright. I will. I really will. I'll go down to the mall today and get the card. Can't hurt, I mean." And here she cast a mischievous glance at him. "But now what would you do with a super-powered son-in-law, anyway?"

"Hey, first things first. Just don't let him try anything. I'd have to open up a can of trouble on him if he did, super powers or no. But let's not get ahead of ourselves or anything. You going out with your friends tonight?"

"Thought I would. Maybe take in a movie or something. Definitely shopping. I hear the store's got in some wicked new tops; brand name. So….I'll get the card there. Uh, you, uh, sure that's alright with you?"

"Sure I am. Long as you're not 'sexting' him or anything. Remember: be a young lady. A _proper_ young lady. And, like I said, I'd sort of like to meet him myself, and thank him for saving you those times." He paused, a strange look coming over his face. "Tara….you've no idea how much it scared me, when the hospital called, after the earthquake. I thought….I was sure that….." But he couldn't go on.

She hugged him, comforting him. "I understand, dad. I'd've been a basket case if it had been either you or mom. And you almost got to meet him then; he offered to stay with me until you arrived. But I knew he had things to do an' all."

"See? To me, that shows he cares about you personally. Maybe a little encouragement on your part could get things started, so to speak. So, hey, give it a try. What've you got to lose, anyway?"

What, indeed? "Okay. Sounds like a plan to me." She smiled.

_To be continued…._

….


	43. Chapter 43: Valentine's Day

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 43: Valentines' Day

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

At the mall, the three canvassed the clothing racks till they got bored. Which, as it happened, didn't take long. There was nothing new there; evidently, they'd been misinformed.

In the Hallmark card shop, Tara kept trying to ditch Ashley and Madison, but they stuck to her like saran wrap. "Hm. Shopping for a Valentine's Day card, are we?" Ashley couldn't keep the grin out of her voice. "I wonder who for?"

"I am NOT shopping for a Valentine's Day card."

"Well, we're in the wrong section for birthdays. Say, that's a nice card." She pointed to one Tara had in her hand; a rather garish one in red and white. "Those look like good colors. At least, the colors a certain someone seems to favor."

"I-I just like wanted to get him a thank-you card, you know."

"One that says, 'Forever and ever, My Love'? That's some impressive thank you."

Tara turned beet-red. "Look, you guys, you're embarrassing me."

"Hey, what else are friends for? Look, we'll help you pick one out. Just don't let your dad find out about it."

"AAhm, actually," and here her voice sank to a whisper, "it was sorta his idea."

Madison couldn't believe her ears. "Your dad, YOUR DAD, the same dad who almost strung Bobby McKenzie up that time he asked you to the dance, actually suggested you get BEAST BOY a _Valentine's_ card? He wasn't drinking or anything at the time, was he?"

"No, no, it was nothing like that…."

But Ashley had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Oho. I think I see what's going on." She turned to Madison. "He's trying to get her married off."

"_He is not!_ Look, nevermind, I'm calling the whole thing off….." She put the card back in its slot.

"You are not doing any such thing. Look, Tara, you can't fight the Forces of Destiny. The entire school knows how you're crushing on him; your own father suggested you get him a card. You're getting him a card." And she grasped Tara's wrist and guided her back up to the same card she'd selected earlier, but had put back. "Come on, now, no use fighting the inevitable." And they both got on either side of her, and walked her, card in hand, up to the check out. "Go on. Pay for it. You know you're gonna."

Seated at a table out in the food court, card spread out before her, Tara was visibly shaking with nervousness. "I-I think I'm losing my mind. I can't think of anything to write. I've never done this sort of thing before." Her two friends began offering suggestions, some of which made her blush down to her toes. "What're you guys, nuts? Do you sneak-read your brothers' _Penthouse_ magazines or somethin'? People don't really talk like that, not in real life."

Ashley nodded. "Okay, so we'll go with minimal. Uhm, 'Thanks for all the saves, Love, Tara'? It's always the word 'Love,' put in there like it was an accident, that gets 'em." She noticed Tara's hesitancy. "You were just gonna thank him, weren't you?"

"Uhm, er, ah….."

"Thaaaaat's what I thought. Okay, so, still going with minimal…..what? 'Wanna go out sometime?'"

"Look, just shoot me and put me out of my misery, okay?" She folded her arms on the table in front of her and rested her forehead on them, her blond hair hiding her face like a veil.

"So what were you thinking? What did your dad suggest?"

"Uhm, lunch, actually. But I don't even know what Beast Boy likes to eat."

Ashley grinned. "Bet I know what you'd _like_ for him to eat, though."

"_ASHLEY_!"

Ashley almost fell out of her chair, laughing. "I can't help it, T, you're so cute when you turn all red in the face like that. But hey: at least this gives us something to go on. You know they all cluster around that pizza parlor downtown, what's it called? Pizza Express? So he _must_ eat pizza. Here." And she replaced the pen in Tara's shaking hand. "Write this down, word for word: 'Thanks for the saves. How about lunch? Pizza Express, my treat.' Now. Put the time and date, and sign your name to it. Oh, and don't forget your cell phone number." Mechanically, Tara wrote it down. She felt a bit numb. This couldn't really be happening to her.

Her hands were shaking so badly, she couldn't even put the stamp on properly. Madison had to take over, pasting the stamp on and dropping it into the mail slot. "There. Now was that so hard?"

"Yes!"

The card arrived a day later. Beast Boy's jaw dropped when he saw the bright red envelope, with _Tara Zharkov_ on the return address. There was no hiding it from Terra; they shared practically everything these days. Except the shower. And he couldn't shake the impression that she was just biding her time on _that._ That, one morning or evening, as he was washing off, he'd turn around and there she'd be, magnificently nude, soap in hand. "Of course, I'm not gonna go," he concluded, as he read the card to her.

She leaned back on the bed they now shared in common. "Why not?" She didn't seem perturbed at all.

"Terra! We're engaged! I'm not gonna go out with some other girl!"

She drew her legs up under her, half-lying, half-sitting on the queen-sized mattress. "Maybe you should. I mean, as Robin would say, we need more intel on this girl. And you're the perfect one to get it. Now's your opportunity. I say go for it."

"B-but Terra!"

She got up and came towards him, putting her arms around him, looking him straight in the eye. "Look, Gar. It's too good an opportunity to pass up. And I trust you. You've never given me any reason not to. _I_ was the one who ran away from _you_, remember? Straight into the arms of the absolute worst choice in all creation, except for Darkseid himself. But you've always stuck by _me_. _Semper fidelis_ oughtta be your middle name." She looked him over, running her hands around the region of his collar. "Hm. No real lapel; no place for a hidden microphone. We'll have to work something out…."

He sputtered and she laughed. "Don't worry, Gar. I'm not jealous. Really, I'm not. You don't feel anything for this girl, do you?"

"Of course not! I barely know her!"

"Then it's settled. You'll meet her for lunch, ask her some questions, find out more about her. Remember what you said, about how there could be more than one clone? We need to know. We _have_ to know. _I _have to know. Maybe now's the time to find out. Find out where she comes from. Or where she _thinks_ she comes from. And." She adjusted his collar for him, slightly. "I'll be listening in on the conversation the whole time." She smiled, and shrugged a little. "Okay, so maybe I'm not all _that_ trusting. But, yes, you're doing it. I'd take _that_ off, though," she said, indicating his ring, the matching one to her own. He held it up to the light. "You don't wanna have ring wrap markings around your finger when you meet her." She saw his obvious discomfort and sobered. "Look, Gar. It's okay. Really. Look at it as just an informal discussion or something. Just as long as it doesn't go beyond talk, I'm okay with it. Really, I am. I just wish I could go along with you, but that wouldn't work, I don't think. Just don't lead her on or anything. I don't think you would, anyway." She pulled him close and kissed him, pressing her body up against his in that way she knew would drive him wild. Whispered in his ear. "And I'll be waiting for you, when you get back." She smiled. "I'll want a full report." She straightened up, moved back a little, a look of practical speculation on her face. "Now. You'll need to take her some little gift, just for appearances' sake, of course….."


	44. Chapter 44: Truth And Consequences

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 44: Truth and Consequences

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Approaching the Pizza Parlor, Beast Boy was a bundle of nerves. Even going into battle with the Brotherhood of Evil hadn't been this hard. For one thing, he'd been _angry_ then, filled with a righteous fury; now he was just plain scared.

_I really need to calm down,_ he said to himself as he walked, _After all, it's like Terra said: this is just for informational purposes. It's not like it's really a date or anything. I've got not just a girlfriend, but a fiancé, one who backs me up on these things. Well, this thing, anyway. So what's got me so tense, anyway?_ It just didn't seem honest, to him, somehow.

Waiting for him, alone, at the Pizza Parlor, outside at one of the tables, Tara was as tense as a guitar string herself. _Suppose he doesn't show? What if he DOES show? What am I gonna do, what am I gonna say? God, I don't know which one to hope for._ She was so lost in her own knuckle-popping misery that she didn't even see him standing there until he cleared his throat. Then she jumped. "Uhm, hello, Tara. H-how's it going?"

"Oh! Uh, fine! Everything's fine!" Her voice was pitched a little higher than normal, or so it seemed to her, and she struggled to control herself. "Uhm, what-what have you got there?" She indicated the wrapped package in his hand.

"This is for you. A….little token of my appreciation." And he handed her the gift. "Uhm, hope you like it." Terra had picked it out.

"You appreciate me? It should be the other way around." But she nonetheless tore into the wrapped package. Inside was a pair of earrings. Tara's eyes widened. These weren't just costume jewelry; they were the real thing, real silver. "You-you really shouldn't have, but, but thank you. Thank you so much," she said, even as she put them on. _I'll never take 'em off._

They both sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Then she spoke up. "So. What, uhm, sort of toppings would you like?" Trying to lighten the mood.

"Preferably vegetarian." He saw her look. "Remember, I turn into animals. I know you are what you eat, but I've never quite gotten over eating what I can become, so to speak."

"Oh, I totally understand. Vegetarian it is. Uh, cheese isn't a problem for you, is it?" He shook his head, and they placed their order, and then waited in more silence.

Finally, he goaded himself into speaking. "So. I'm, uhm, glad you sent me that card. It really came out of the blue, so to speak."

"Yes, well, you _have_ saved my life on a couple of occasions. This was just one way to say thanks." _C'mon, girl, say more than that._

"Well, I'm glad I was there when needed. So. Uhm, tell me a little about yourself, would you?"

Where to start? She shrugged. "Well, it's been a pretty ordinary life, I suppose, so far, at least. I was born in Central City; we lived there a good while. Then Dad got this job with the university here, and we moved out here. It was just after we moved here that I had my, uhm, accident."

"Yes, tell me about that. It sounds like it was pretty bad."

"Well, yeah, I guess it was. They tell me I aspirated so much water I basically stopped breathing for a while. They had to resuscitate me and I spent some time in the hospital." She shuddered. "I hate hospitals."

"Don't blame you. I've spent my share of time in 'em, and, no, they're not vacation resorts, by any means. So your memories kinda got messed up?"

"Yeah." It was getting easier to talk to him. "I don't know if there was any serious brain damage-I suppose there must've been some-but memories from before that are just kinda cloudy. Almost like they happened to someone else, you know?" She sipped her iced tea. "Your turn. What about you?"

He leaned back, a half-scowl on his face. It made her little nervous; had she touched on a nerve, a sensitive area better left alone? "You remember I said there are some memories I wouldn't mind losing? My early childhood is one of 'em." And he gave her a brief account of his origin. "So there I was, a shape-changing orphan. Oh, I had an uncle who was delighted to take me in—but only for my inheritance. Plus, he had big ideas about using me and my powers to commit crimes. Needless to say, I didn't go along with that. And paid the price for it." He rubbed his arm reflexively. Even after all these years, he could still remember the beatings. "Then there was the Doom Patrol. Mento and Elasti-girl actually adopted me, gave me a place to escape to. But….it wasn't the same as real parents, you know." Their order arrived and they dug in. "Then the Titans…but I guess you know about that part."

"Gosh. Sounds like you didn't have a very good childhood at all, being bounced around like that, an' all. I mean, I've had my share of fights with my folks, but I can't imagine _not having any._ Parents, I mean. That's so…..sad." She reached for his hand. After a moment's hesitation, he allowed her to take it. _She's so like Terra…_ "But things are better for you now, right? I mean, you have the Titans, aren't they like family? And, and," and here she blushed crimson, "y-you have o-other people who, who care about you. Really care, I mean." She stopped, embarrassed.

He was staring at her, giving her an odd look. What was that for? She wondered. Had she crossed a line or something? "Well. Thank you, Tara. Yes, you're right; things are different now. I try not to dwell on the past." He paused, an embarrassed look coming over _his_ face. "I hope I haven't given you the impression that I'm a permanent guest of honor at my own private pity party. I know I have a lot going for me these days. And the past is just that: the past. Can't change it. Well, maybe you can, but you'd need a time machine, and, from what I hear, that gets complicated."

"No, no, I didn't get that impression at all…." It was odd. She'd been halfway expecting her first meeting with him, alone like this, to shatter some illusions she'd had about him, but, in actuality, she found her feelings for him getting _stronger._ He wasn't just somebody on the news or in a magazine or something anymore. He was no longer just a picture; he was a real, live, breathing human being, one she could relate to, even though she'd not had any such harsh experiences herself. _Is there, maybe, just maybe, a chance for an "us"?_

For a while they ate in silence. Then, he asked her, as casually as he could, "Well, I don't mean to bring up an unpleasant subject or anything, but this accident of yours. What do you remember about it?"

She grimaced. "Not much. I was water skiing on the lake—at least, that's what they said later, I don't really remember that part, and I guess I hit a submerged stump or something. Threw me completely off. The next clear memory I have is waking up in the hospital, all wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy or something. I don't think I broke any bones, but I understand they had to give me, like, fluids and nutrients intravenously, you know, 'cause I couldn't eat. So I must've been out for several days at least." She paused, as something occurred to her. "Had the weirdest dream, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I dreamed I was in this big, high-tech looking room, enclosed in some kinda glass or plastic tube or something, and—here's the weird part—there were other tubes spaced around the room, and," here she paused again, trying to remember, "there were, like, other _me's_ in each one." Again she stopped for a moment, biting her lip. "Funny. I haven't really thought about that dream for some time now. But it was like there were four or five other versions of me, all the same, each in its own tube. Or maybe they were reflections of me, mirrors or something. I dunno. Crazy, huh? But it seemed so _real._"

"Not crazy. I've had some dreams that seemed more real than real life. Some I was sorry to wake up from. And some I was glad to." He shrugged. "Guess that's how dreams are. Or can be."

"Well," she laughed, " guess that's about the strangest thing to've happened to me. No comparison to your adventures, I know, just a weird dream."

He smiled at her. "Tara….be _glad_ that's the strangest thing. Most of what you call my 'adventures' were things I really wish hadn't happened. Yeah, I got through 'em an' all, but they sure weren't fun at the time. It wouldn't be impossible for me to sorta _envy_ you your normal life. Not that I do, you understand; I'm content with myself these days, but there have been lots of times when I wished for just a normal life with a normal family."

She ate some more pizza thoughtfully. Then, "So why _did_ you become a superhero, anyway? I mean, yeah, you could'a gone the other way, become a villain, or, or, even with the green skin and powers, just been some dude on the streets."

"That's not an easy question to answer, Tara." He shrugged and spread his hands. "Why do any of us become what we become? I didn't set out to be a hero or anything, but I found I just couldn't stand by and let people get hurt. I was altogether too familiar with _being_ hurt, I guess. And, yes, the Doom Patrol played a part in that: they gave me some good examples to live by. I'm thankful for that. I guess….I guess my life experiences just tended to sorta shape me into the person I've become."

Another moment of thoughtful silence. "So, have you ever thought about, like, the future? What do you want to get out of life? Please excuse the question if you find it too personal."

"Oh, no. No, I'd like to, y'know, settle down someday. Get married, have kids, the whole nine yards." Again he shrugged. "Maybe then I'd retire from the superhero business. Then again, maybe not. It's not always a voluntary choice, you know. Like, if something happened right now, even though I'm technically off duty, I'd feel compelled to do something, help out in some way, you know? I mean, not that I'm comparing myself to them, but can you see Superman or Batman actually quitting, going to the bench, so to speak? We all do what's in our nature to do, because that's our nature, and sometimes we just don't have that much choice in the matter." _Great,_ he thought. _Now I sound like Captain Ego himself._ He hadn't meant to come off sounding that way.

She chewed thoughtfully on her slice of pizza. "Well, whoever you get with, would have to be awfully understanding. I mean, you could die, doing what you do."

He nodded, soberly. "I know. Such a person would be hard to find." _Although I hope I've already found her._ "I've noticed, some superheroes just never find anyone like that. Some aren't even looking.

"But what about you? What would _you_ like to get out of life?" _That's it, Garfield, turn the question back on her._

"Well, I plan to go on to college after graduation. Haven't decided on a major yet, but there's time." Pause. "I've got graduation coming up shortly. Would-would you…I mean, if you can, of course…come to it? I-I would really like you to come." She couldn't keep the blush off her face as she spoke.

_Crap,_ he thought to himself, _she really does have it for me._ Not all that long ago, he'd have been flattered. Now he just felt miserable, like he was deceiving her or something. Which, in a way, he was. "Well, if I can, I'll certainly try. Yes, I'd be honored to come to your graduation. Thank you for the invitation."

"You'll get a formal invitation when the time comes. But, yes, I-I would really like it if you could attend. You and the Titans, I mean," she added, hastily. "I don't mean to exclude them or anything."

"I doubt all of us could come. Somebody's gotta stay back and watch the shop, so to speak. But, I'll ask the others. Maybe some of us could make it. If you….want us to." He sobered. This had gone far enough. "But, look, Tara, there's something about me you maybe oughtta know about….

She paused in mid-bite. "Oh? Like what?"

"Well, you see, I'm—*" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the car hurtling towards them through the air, and instinctively threw himself at her across the table, shoving her away and down, back towards the corner of the building. The flung automobile crashed into the space where they'd just been sitting, demolishing their table and skidding into the front of the Pizza Parlor itself, crashing through it, ending up halfway inside the Parlor, lying on its side.

"And there's more where _that_ came from," promised Angelique, with a feral smile.

_To be continued..._

….


	45. Chapter 45: The Stuff of Heroes

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 45: The Stuff of Heroes

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

"Tara!" he yelled, "Get outta here! Now! GO!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to! You don't stand a chance against this thing! Now, go! And don't look back!" _'Cause I'd just as soon you didn't see me get torn apart._

So Tara ran, but, like Lot's wife, she did look back. Saw him shape-change into a green bull. Saw him knock the strange creature that was attacking them every bit of three feet. She saw it morph its arms into wickedly barbed chainsaw blades fully four feet long each, blurring with motion. Saw one of them descend on his neck. Saw the red blood spurt…..

Then she saw nothing at all. She'd fainted dead away.

For her part, Angelique was puzzled. Just as she'd been about to really get (read:_kill_) one of the troublemakers that had plagued the city for so long, he disappeared into thin air. And her internal sensors couldn't pick up any trace of where he'd gone. She was left alone with the destroyed Pizza Parlor, the terrified citizens (should she try to reassure them that everything was okay? But she really didn't know how to go about doing that, and Mr. Slade hadn't said to, so….), and that girl the green guy had been talking to, lying on the sidewalk a little ways off. Angelique inspected her from a distance, to see if she'd hit her head or anything, but no, that didn't appear to be the case. She was alright; just apparently sleeping in a very strange place. Angelique shrugged slightly, to herself: her time among the Kindred had accustomed her to all sorts of strange things; the strange things humans did barely registered anymore. Anyway, the girl was alright and didn't seem to need anything, so Angelique promptly forgot about her.

That was a mistake.

Since she was turned away, she didn't see the angry snarl that formed on Tara Zharkov's unconscious face….

Her internal sensors detected the tremors before her more "normal" ones did: a growing series of vibrations emanating from someplace she couldn't quite determine, but rapidly escalating into a full-fledged earthquake. The ground beneath her cracked open; unprepared, she fell into the crevice thus made before she could shift into flight mode. But she shifted swiftly, and quickly jetted up towards the surface….

Not quickly enough. The huge crack in the ground abruptly closed shut around her. Angelique's eyes widened; a reaction from when she was only human. It was almost as if the cold earth had _slammed_ around her _deliberately._

And now it _squeezed…_and squeezed _hard._

Back at the Tower, the Titans had been listening in on Beast Boy and Tara's conversation, as they'd agreed upon. They heard when Angelique appeared, and mobilized as rapidly as they could, all the while maintaining the comm link, even knowing, as they did, that they were too far away to arrive in time.

They, too, felt the earth trembling, and raced ever harder towards the affected area, all the while knowing that, whatever was happening, they'd be too late…

None of them questioned, even for a moment, as to the cause of the quake. They knew it wasn't their Terra.

Within the ground underneath the destroyed Pizza Parlor, Angelique struggled to free herself. Like many children, she'd played in the dirt before, but it had never occurred to her that the simple _ground_ could have such _power._ It was almost as if the earth around her was a living thing, working against her, on a personal level, like it was actually _attacking_ her….but that was _crazy_.

She struggled to free herself, morphing into one form after another. Now she surrounded herself with blue disruptor energy; the molecules of the earth around her lost their structure, breaking apart into their component atoms.

But now she was surrounded by individual atoms of iron, silicon, manganese and more. And these atoms, like the earth which they'd previously composed, seemed animated by some ferocious, malevolent spirit, all the atoms flooding her systems with gunk. She no longer had any blood to lose or poison, but she did have internal systems, systems that could be short-circuited by the microfine debris.

"Eeeeeeyyaaaaaaa!" Even as she felt herself losing control of her systems, she made a last desperate effort, and managed to teleport herself back to the hive of the Kindred.

Angelique paused, resetting her more important systems and purging herself of the gunk she'd collected. She paused again when she noticed the red blood on one of her limbs. So she _had_ gotten one of them. Or had she? She could clearly remember him just vanishing into thin air….she didn't think any of them could do that, not quite that way, anyway.

And why had he been yelling at the girl who was with him to run, to get away? She wasn't after the girl; the green one should've known that. Yet he'd yelled at her to leave him and get to safety, while he turned and rushed headlong (literally) into a battle he should've known he couldn't possibly win….

Angelique thought hard about that. That just didn't seem like a very bad-guyish thing to do, to her. In fact, it sounded a whole lot like what she herself would do if, say, Charlie were in danger. Or mother Theta. Or mother Delta.

Well, there had to be some logical reason for it. There just had to be. He was a bad guy. He had to be. Mr. Slade had told her he was, and he hadn't lied to her.

Had he?

…..

Back at the remains of the Pizza Parlor, the Titans were busy digging people out from under the wreckage. Or at least, most of them were. Robin had stopped to check on Tara, when a shout from the interior of the pizzeria caught his attention. Some people were still trapped in rubble, and the others were having a hard time getting to them.

Where was Terra? He wondered. This was job for her if there ever was one. Then he caught sight of her across the street, on her knees, eyes wide, staring at the cracked pavement. She had her hands over her mouth, and seemed to be shaking, slightly.

He rushed over to her, and immediately saw the reason for her distress. For there, right in front of her, was a brownish-red splotch.

Blood.

"He-he's dead. Isn't he?"

"Terra, no, don't start this. There's no body, is there? Maybe he's somewhere around here, hurt, yes, but not dead. We'll find him, I promise. But I need you to get a grip on things. There are people trapped here. We need you; Raven can't do it all." She sniffled, and dried her eyes. Yes. She had a job to do.

Her hands and eyes glowed yellow as she focused on the rubble inside the remains of the pizzeria. It slowly lifted off the trapped people inside, and that gave the others the chance they'd needed to start helping them to their feet (those that could stand), and getting them to safety.

The quake had been highly localized; none of the other shops were damaged, though the street was torn up in several places.

After the last ambulance had left, Robin turned to Cyborg. "Cyborg, I need you to scan for…for Beast Boy. He's hurt, wherever he is. Raven? Can you sense him anywhere?"

They both began scanning, each in his or her own way. "I'm not picking up anything, Rob," said Cyborg after several minutes.

"Neither am I," reported Raven. "Wherever he is, he's not around here. Not if he's…." She paused and swallowed audibly. "Alive."

"Well, _I'm_ looking over here. If he's hurt, he might've crawled off somewhere. Over here's as good a place as any to start." With that, Terra levitated a boulder and rode it towards the nearby alleyway.

The others were about to follow, when a moan from behind them distracted them. Tara was regaining consciousness. Robin knelt over her, supporting her head. Dimly, she saw his silhouette against the sky. "Beast Boy?"

He shook his head. "'Fraid not. What happened here, anyway? Can you tell us?"

She suddenly sat bolt upright. "Beast Boy! He-he's dead! That, that _thing_ killed him!" Robin felt a cold knot of fear begin to form inside him. Could it be?

"But what happened?" he asked again.

She closed her eyes against the tears, pressing the heel of her hand up against her forehead. "We-we were having lunch. Then this _thing_—I can't even describe it—just came outta nowhere and started throwing cars at us. He—he saved my life. Again." _But for the last time._ "It—it cut his head off," she whispered, eyes widening at the horror of the memory.

"Listen to me. Did you actually see him die?"

She thought hard, sniffling. "I—I saw blood. Then….I don't remember anything after that."

"Okay, so that means there's a chance that he's alive." He turned to the others. "Spread out! Search this entire area! We've gotta find him!" Back to Tara. "Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?"

She shook her head, trying to get herself under control. "N-no. I, I guess I'm okay. Just—just shaken up. I'll, I'll be alright. Just please find him!"

_To be continued?_


	46. Chapter 46 Decisions

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 46: Decisions

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Beast Boy floated in darkness, but he was not alone. "Orb? Is that you?"_

_[[__**Yes, Garfield. I am here.**__}}_

_{{"Figured as much. I guess I was fighting a losing battle, huh?"}}_

_{{__**You were about to be, I believe the term is, 'killed.' Am I incorrect in assuming this to be an undesirable event?**__}}_

_{{"No, Orb, you weren't. It's commonly considered a very undesirable event."}} Something must be different here; how could he speak so lightly of what had almost happened?_

_{{__**Then why did you rush into it? From your actions, I almost assumed the reverse to be true, and nearly waited too late.**__}}_

_{{"That thing wasn't after Tara, but if it had thrown another car, it might've hit her, or someone else. So I gave it what it was after. Me."}}_

_{{__**So I should not have intervened?**__}}_

_{{"No, Orb, I don't mean that. And thanks for the save…at least, I guess you're repairing me now, right? Like you did Terra, when she had her aneurism?"}} There was silent assent in the Orb's darkness. {{"Good deal. That's another one I owe ya."}}_

_{{__**You do not 'owe ya' me anything. I am glad to be of assistance. I am still having trouble, though, with your chain of logic. If death—another concept I am struggling to understand—is the ultimate undesirable event, why would you willingly accept it?**__}}_

_{{"Because one's own personal death need not be the __ultimate__ undesirable event. I was trying to save the lives of those around me, even as you acted to save mine."}} It was amazing how much clearer he was thinking. Something about being inside the Orb must have that effect. For that matter, he couldn't really feel his body, or what had to be the horrendous gash on his neck….maybe he was, like, a disembodied spirit here? He wondered if Terra had experienced something similar. {{"Orb, what can you tell me about that creature that attacked us?"}}_

_{{__**Her name is Maria Theresa Marco, though she now calls herself Angelique. She is an immature human female who has been extensively modified by the Osiran Thinkers, or, as they now call themselves, the Kindred, and by herself. She seeks to find her biological mother, and, to this end, is currently working with the one you call 'Slade.'**__}}_

_{{"'Immature'? How old is she?"}}_

_{{__**She turned seven of your years last March.**__}}_

_{{"Did you say…'seven'?"}}_

_{{__**Yes.**__}}_

_{{"She's only a little girl! I've gotta warn the others…..we don't want to hurt her, but we have to get her away from Slade!"}}_

_{{__**Peace, Beast Boy. Calm. Angelique nearly severed your spinal chord. That will take me a few minutes to repair.**__}}_

_{{"I have to warn the others. Can you, like, put me in communication with them, somehow?"}}_

_{{__**Yes.**__}} And now he could sense the minds of the others, as if they were on the outskirts of his own mind, sort of. {{"Guys! It's me! I'm back here at the Tower—at least I guess I am—the Orb's healing me."}} In his mind's eye, he saw Terra fall to her knees, tears running down her face. {{"It's alright, Terra. I'm okay."}}_

_{{"Oh, Thank God!"}}_

_{{"Hey, you're not getting rid of me __that__ easily."}} He tried to send her an image of a cocky grin on his face, but couldn't tell if it got through or not. {{"But look: I've found out something."}} And he shared with them what he'd learned about Angelique. {{"We have to get her away from Slade."}} He sensed them expressing shock and agreement. Then he "heard" Robin telling the others: "Okay, we'll meet back at the Tower."_

_{{"Hey! What happened to Tara?"}}But their mental patterns had already faded, the connection lost. {{"Orb! What happened to Tara?"}}_

_{{__**She is currently on her way to her home. I do not think she had a very good time today.**__}}_

_{{"I bet not. Look, this mind-to-mind thing would probably freak her out, but can you….."}}_

Tara Zharkov was wending her way home from what had to be the _worst possible day! Of her life!_ when her cell phone rang. She glanced down at it. Unknown number? She thought she'd set it to refuse unknown and '800' numbers due to telemarketers, but… "Hello?"

"_Tara, it's me, Beast Boy. Are you alright?"_

"B-b-b-beast Boy? Where….what…how…"

"_It's alright, Tara, I'm alright. It's a long story, but let's just say somebody beamed me up just in time. Now I'm getting healed up. Sorry about lunch today. But are you alright?"_

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, it's just….." She'd been certain she'd seen him die. But he was alive and talking to her. "Don't you ever do me that way again! I thought you were dead! I even told the other Titans you were!" She sank down on the grass by the sidewalk, tears running down her face, the phone pressed to her ear. Passersby glanced at her, wondering what ever could be the matter.

"_I'm sorry, Tara. Believe it or not, that sort of thing just doesn't happen every day to me."_

She dried her eyes, sniffling. "Well, alright then. Where are you?"

"_Titans' Tower. Look, I'm really sorry about lunch…."_

"That's-that's okay. I guess…I guess it really wasn't your fault." And, at that moment, something happened inside her: she had reached a decision. It would require sacrifice on her part, but there was no help for that. "But look: we really need to get together and talk about….about some things. Sometime soon. Okay?"

"_Uhm, sure, but what about?"_

"We'll get to that later. Not over the phone. Call me, okay? When you get healed up an' everything. I'll be expecting to hear from you. Okay?"

"_Uhm, okay."_

…

Beast Boy's body floated in the Orb's strange substance, as if enclosed in a giant crystal ball filled with ink. Robin could clearly see the wound on his neck, the blood turning that part of the Orb's substance red…except it wasn't flowing out of the wound, but actually seemed to be flowing the other way, back into Beast Boy's body. Idly, Robin wondered how the Orb replaced that which was already lost. Maybe it synthesized it, somehow?

In any case, the Orb was certainly proving to be handy to have around. "BB, can you hear me?"

{{_"Yeah, Rob. You don't have to shout. You guys heard what Tara said, about her dream?"_}} His lips didn't move; Robin could only guess he was communicating via some other means.

"Yeah. The 'mummy wrappings' sounds like the support system Cadmus developed to support the clone's skin while it accustomed itself to dry air. And she mentioned 'four or five'-wish she'd nailed it down more precisely than that-so there could be four or five more clones somewhere."

{{_"So how do we go about finding them?"_}}

Robin smacked his fist into his opposite hand. "We 'ask' the man who made 'em. And we get some answers."

{{_"Oh, c'mon, Rob. When have we ever been able to get answers from Slade?"_}}

"When it's in his best interests to do so." Robin smiled. "All we have to do is convince Slade of that."

Meanwhile, Angelique was playing with Charlie. Mr. Slade had spared no expense, it was true, to build the little dog a home. It was all automated, of course, but Charlie had his own yard, doghouse, food and watering dishes, all of which were cleaned and serviced periodically by silent robots.

However, in spite of all the attention given to his care, the dog didn't seem to be doing very well. He seemed to tire easily, for one thing. Angelique was no expert on dogs, having never had one before, but she had always thought they shouldn't give out after only a few stick fetchings. She wondered if it could be due to this disease Charlie had, the rare one that sometimes dogs got. And she wondered if maybe she could do something about it.

So, with Charlie sleeping in her lap, she focused her senses on him, scaling them down to the microscopic level…

Nanoprobes? What were nanoprobes doing in Charlie? Oh, wait…of course, that was how Mr. Slade kept such a good watch on Charlie's health. It had to be. Of course.

Except….the probes didn't seem to be doing that. They didn't seem to be doing anything, actually. They certainly weren't transmitting any signals of any kind.

A horrible suspicion occurred to her. No, surely not. Not Mr. Slade. Not after all she'd done for him. Surely he wouldn't do that to an innocent little puppy!

Surely not!

…..

_The Hunter fleet, consisting of sixty-six "Desotarr" class starships, dropped out of warp space on the farthest outskirts of the supergiant star system their computers catalogued as XJ38-2592198. They were still too far away to be able to catch even a glimpse of the light from Earth's sun, but they were not as far away as they had been._

_Here they paused, and reassessed the situation. Their supplies were holding out well (better than they had expected, in fact), and, while they could stand to refuel, they really didn't need to for some time yet. Morale was not a problem; all were committed to their quest. The fleet commander sent out three pairs of ships, to see if there was any sign of their quarry having come this way._

_Nosing around in the star system's asteroid belt, one of the pairs of ships signaled for attention. Yes, a trail, cold, true, but there nonetheless, had been found. Evidence of abnormal meson decay, with the spin on the quarks pointing the way like an old-style Earth compass. Their prey was not close; but it had passed through here at some point. They were on the right track. Now it was only a matter of time, and patience._

_Hunters have endless patience._

…

Angelique peeked cautiously around the corner of Slade's lair. She'd diverted or otherwise distracted his formidable security system, but electronic countermeasures wouldn't work on the man himself.

She felt ashamed of what she was doing. But she had to know. She consoled herself with the notion that she was only going to learn more about Charlie's disease, in the hopes that maybe Father Alpha or one of the others could improve on it, make it not just a treatment, but a complete cure. But first, she had to know more about this disease, and Mr. Slade hadn't been very forthcoming with details. Maybe he thought she wouldn't understand the big words, but in this, he was quite mistaken.

When your brain is a quantum-based probability supercomputer, able to access and process terabytes upon terabytes of information, reading comprehension really isn't an issue.

Mr. Slade might not be accommodating with information about Charlie's disease, but his computers were another matter altogether.

Hm. He had a great deal of hidden and encrypted files….she might could've worked her way around them, but she was unsure if she could do so undetected. So she did the next best thing: she used her special abilities to literally build a physical sub-brain, using nanotechnology, within Slade's computers. She hid it carefully, and set it to alert her to any data input or output dealing with herself or Charlie. In essence, she had a mechanical spy inside Slade's own mainframe. There. Now, the next time Mr. Slade gave Charlie an inoculation or treatment of any kind, she'd have that information. And that would give her the digital toe-hold she would need to delve deeper into his computers, for further information. A foot in the door, so to speak. All to help Charlie, of course.

Well, she'd done all she could for now. She just wished she could put to rest that nagging _suspicion_ she had. Surely, surely Mr. Slade wouldn't be the sort to….but no, best not to think about that.

It was probably just her imagination working overtime, anyway, After all, Mr. Slade was her friend. He wouldn't do anything to hurt Charlie. Or her. No, he just wouldn't.

….

Evening meal at the Zharkov's: Tara had cleaned herself up from the disaster that had been lunch, and was calmly eating with her parents.

"So," her father began, "How was lunch?"

She shrugged. "Could've been better. I did get the chance to kinda sorta talk to him, see what kind of person he is. He's….really nice. If only that monster hadn't attacked us….."

"Monster? What's this? What happened?"

"Some kinda weird mechanical thing attacked us. Threw a car at us. And," and here she paused, contemplating, "I'm afraid my debt to him, in terms of saving my life, increased by one. He shoved me out of the way, again, and told me to run." She thought, scowling. "While _he_ turns and rushes headlong into danger. I thought he'd been killed, but he called me afterwards. Seems they have some way of teleporting their people out of dangerous situations. So. He's okay, he just scared me half to death."

"So…now what? You gonna see him anymore?"

Tara smiled a rueful smile. "Oh, I am definitely gonna see him again. There are some things we need to talk about." She sighed and leaned back from the table. "One of them being, I can't go on like this. I think…." She paused, "I think he's into to the idea of a relationship, but I'm gonna have to explain to him that I can't go on with this, him throwing himself in front of a train, so to speak, all the time. And we'll…just have to see from there."

Her mother glanced at her father. "Sounds like you've made up your mind about him."

"Well, " her father said, "I understand you have to watch out for yourself in this matter. If he leads such a dangerous lifestyle, well, you just gotta buckle your shoes and make a decision, don't you?"

"Yes, Dad. And I think I already have." She sighed. "How _he'll_ take it is another matter."


	47. Chapter 47: Reflections

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 47: Reflections

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Titans' Tower: a council of war was being held. After all, they were basically under siege from Angelique. All agreed that the first order of business was to get Angelique away from Slade's influence. The question was, how?

Robin took charge. "Beast Boy? What did you say Angelique's real name is?"

Beast Boy, seated by Terra, showed none the worse for wear, considering his close call. "Maria Theresa Marco. Her mother's name was Angela Marco. Does that help?"

Robin nodded. "Some. I'll see what I can find out about her….if Angelique's working with Slade solely to find her bio mom, then if we beat him to the punch, she'll have no reason to keep on working with him. That'll take care of a major problem right there."

Terra spoke up. "Maybe not. I worked for Slade, remember; he always has a backup plan. Remember how it was for me? He had me in a neuro suit, as a failsafe. It almost worked, too. I wouldn't be surprised if he has something similar on Angelique."

Robin bit his lip. "But if she's the product of Osiran technology, I don't see how Slade could control that….."

"It needn't be anything wholly physical, or technological. Slade strives for psychological advantage, as well, you know. Like, I'm sure he's told her he'll take her to her mother—if she behaves herself and does what he tells her to do. And, he's probably told her we're the bad guys, so she thinks she's doing good deeds here." She shrugged, crossing her arms in front of her. "At least, that's what I suppose he's done, based on my personal experience. Like he always said: the best fight is the one your enemy is already convinced he's lost."

"Hm. So we have to come up with some way of convincing her that everything he's told her is a lie. Not easy." He thoughtfully chewed on a knuckle. "Well, Beast Boy, what do you plan to do about Tara?"

Garfield Logan had been daydreaming. Now he started suddenly, then laughed. "Oh, I think that matter is about to resolve itself, without any input from me."

"Why?" asked Terra, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, while I was inside the Orb, I called her to make sure she was alright. She was a bit upset with me. Said we had some things to 'talk about'. In person. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where that's going."

"What do you mean?"

"This is the part where I get the 'we come from two different worlds' bit, with a dash of 'I don't need to be involved with someone who could get killed on me,' ending with a side order of 'let's just resolve to be good friends.'" He saw their looks. "Hey, it's not the first time this sort of thing has happened to me." He paused. "I won't lie: I am concerned about her. Rob, your theory is she's being raised by robots?"

"All the evidence points towards that, yes."

"Now that her powers are beginning to emerge is the time when Slade will probably want to cash in on his investment, don't you think?"

Robin leaned back, crossing his arms in front of him. "Stands to reason."

"How do you suppose he'll go about doing that?"

"Hm." Robin bit his lip. "Good point. It would be classically unsubtle of him to just smash in the door and say, 'you're my property.' But it wouldn't shock me to learn that she—through her 'parents', of course—has received offers of say, scholarships to exclusive colleges and/or academies…..colleges or academies nobody else has ever heard of."

"And don't forget," Terra added, "we're dealing with a man who seeks the upper hand in any form he can get it. Is there some way of remote-scanning her for nanoprobes?"

"No." Cyborg looked doubtful. "We didn't even detect them in us until we knew they were there. Omega? Can you scan her from here?"

Omega glanced away, focusing his senses on Tara, far off. For a long moment, he was silent. Then," Tara Zharkov appears to be uninfected thus far. Perhaps we should focus on finding Slade's lair."

"Good idea. Can you do that?"

"I can scan for areas that are not completely open to me. There are several such locations around Jump City. One of them is no doubt the Thinkers' hive, but one may be his. But what do we do when we find it? After all, I am certain that Angelique will not take the discovery of her partner's headquarters lightly. Nor will Slade."

"True." Robin was pensive. "But we still need to know _where_ to find him. And it wouldn't hurt to know more about the Thinkers, and their whereabouts. Are they likely to cause any trouble anytime soon?"

Omega considered. "It's possible. They may seek to set up domains, but doing so will not be an easy task, even for them. But we need to be ready, just in case. Once a domain barrier is set in place, it is…extremely difficult to get around it."

"How difficult?"

Omega spread his hands. "Next to impossible. What you term 'wormholes' would be insufficient. It would require something much more sophisticated and stable, something along the lines of what I've heard referred to as 'boom tubes.' That's about the only possibility that comes to mind." His eyes took on a faraway look. "Although….there may be ways of circumventing that possibility, should it come to fruition. I'll see what I can come up with."

"That's all we can ask. Any more news about the probe?"

Omega shifted uncomfortably. Robin narrowed his eyes; he'd never seen the alien indicate internal discomfort before. "Yes. I believe I now know what its ultimate purpose is. And it may well be we need to establish domains of our own, and soon."

"Why? What's the probe gonna do?"

"To put it in layman's terms, it plans on resetting the universe itself."

There was shocked silence around the table. Then, "Dude. Did you just say…..?"

"'Reset the universe'? Yes, I did. You see, I am now convinced that Osira—my home world—existed in another universe, perhaps predating this one. And that universe existed at a higher energy level, a false vacuum significantly higher than any currently extant. The probe, I believe, is going to attempt to rectify that, to recreate the universe of Osira here."

More shocked silence. Then, "That…sounds dangerous."

Omega nodded gravely. "Extremely so. Should the probe fail, it stands a good chance of knocking the universe down to true vacuum, to zero energy level, essentially destroying everything. But my people did not build machines to fail. Should it succeed, which is likely, things around here will be…..very different. To put it mildly."

"How…..different?"

Omega looked thoughtful. "It would probably be most effective to simply move the Earth. That will be necessary due to solar expansion anyway. Another alternative is to put up a domain barrier around the Earth—Moon system, but that poses its own problems…."

"Solar expansion?" Mouths were agape.

"The sun will most likely increase in size to become something not seen before: a blue supergiant. Its radius will extend out to the orbit of the planet Saturn, and the Earth would be orbiting actually underneath its surface, a condition I doubt most humans would find comfortable."

"Dude…you've a gift for understatement…"

"The galaxy's central black hole would also no doubt undergo considerable expansion. In fact, until I can narrow it down to specifics, it might be safest to take this part of the galactic arm and move it in the general direction of M31. Space is relatively flat there; conditions should be tolerable until we can sort it all out."

Robin was pale. "Uh….Omega….you ARE kidding, aren't you?"

"Kidding?"

"Uh, Rob?" Cyborg was a little pale himself. "I, uh, don't think he is." He turned to the Osiran. "You're talking true vacuum versus false vacuum? The probe intends to raise that? How?"

"I can show you the math. In layman's terms, however, it will produce what I suppose you'd call a 'soft bang'….not the vast surge of the original quantum expansion, but a standing wave that would move throughout the cosmos, producing the effect I described."

Robin was silent for a long time. Then, "Well, we have to figure out a way to stop the probe. Or get rid of it, somehow. Omega? When is the probe set to….do this?"

"The Thinkers have reset it twice, and I've reset it once. But it will only reset so many times."

"Any idea what kind of time table we're looking at?"

"No. That would require a more in-depth knowledge of its programming, which I, at least, don't have."

"I think the probe just became number one priority. We have to stop it somehow." He saw Omega's expression. "Omega? _Can_ you stop it?"

"Unknown. I….may be able to, but it is programmed to resist any serious tampering from any outside source. But Robin? Are you sure that's a desirable course of action? The increase in reproducible energy would be enormous, and beneficial."

"With the alternative being the destruction or, or reconfiguration of the universe? Hell, yes." Robin narrowed his gaze at the alien. "Omega. This is where the rubber meets the road, as we say here on Earth. Do you stand with us? Or with your own people?"

There was a moment of silent tension while Omega considered. Then he sighed, lowering his gaze. "My own kind sought to execute me. I have vowed to be the champion of your people. I do not take such a vow lightly. I stand with you."

Around the table, the assembled Titans let out a collective breath they didn't even realize they'd been holding. "Alright then."

"But it may be impossible to actually _stop_ the probe. I may, however, be able to send it off into space somewhere, far away, to some remote corner of the universe where the effects of the 'soft bang' would not reach Earth's space for a considerable time."

"If that's the best you can do, I guess it'll have to do. How soon can you do that?"

"I will begin work on it immediately." And he got up and left the table.

Robin turned to Hank. "Hank? Would you work with Omega on this project?" _And keep an eye on him, while you're at it?_ he thought.

Hank Jones smiled and closed his eyes. {{_I heard that. Yes, Robin, I will. To the best of my abilities._}}

Robin's eyes widened as he received Hank's telepathic communication. He hadn't been aware Hank's training had advanced this far. But so much the better. "Good deal. Now, about Slade….."

Hank followed Omega down to his room. The door was open; the Osiran hadn't turned up the heat or gravity, so Hank took that as invitation to come in. "Omega? How's it coming?"

The Orsiran was seated in his kneeling position on the floor, the wires of the matrix override again connected to his head. "I have not yet begun to link with the probe, Hank." He looked up, his expression sober. "Robin sent you down her to keep an eye on me, didn't he?"

"Uh, well…."

"You needn't dissemble. I think we both know each other too well for that. And that is what I would do were I in his place. It is….only logical." Here he looked down at the floor again. "After all, I did betray my masters on Osira, whom I was genetically programmed to obey. Why should he trust me?"

"What _did_ happen there, anyway? You've never said anything about it." Hank leaned back against one wall and waited.

Omega sighed. He had remembered some things, but in all honesty, was he proud of them?

_The world known at Zeta Minor –X. A world of intelligent land cephalopods. A recent addition to the Osiran Empire._

_He could remember walking along the byways of the city of the cephalopods, on patrol. There; one dwelling was mostly shattered, and within was a cephalopod with young. The adult—he did not know if it was the parent or not, and truly did not care—was injured. The younglings were too young to be separated from their parent for long. He paused and gazed impassively at the injured being._

_There was no logical reason why he should let it perish, when it could live to serve the Empire. So he wrapped them all up in a large tarpaulin or sheet, and transported them all to the nearest relief station._

_The other cephalopods there, many of them injured in the recent battle that had decided the fate of their species, looked on him with undisguised hatred. That was to be expected; it was normal for the conquered to feel hatred of the conqueror. "Let them hate us, as long as they also fear us." He left them there to be cared for by their own kind and returned to his patrol._

_Another memory, this one causing him pain. There had been another, a female he had cared for. Lost in one of the many pointless battles between rival domains, rival Lords. Her body had never been recovered. His Lord had "told" him he did not feel anything for her, that he could not, and he didn't, but the loss could not be amputated from his soul. At that time, he did not have the concept of "friend," but now he realized she was the closest to that he had ever had._

_After a particularly savage battle: looking around at the destruction he and his kind had wrought, the desolate landscape. Such battles were becoming more and more commonplace as resources dwindled, and the Lords were reduced to seeking any advantage over each other they could get. He looked around at the smoking planet, on which nothing grew any longer, and remembered the green and verdant place it had been before. Was this the legacy of Osira? To destroy all that was good in the world, all that mattered?_

_World after world after world…_

_Where would it end?_

_Would__ it end?_

_Perhaps…..perhaps somebody should do something about that….Not him, of course. No, not him. He was a proper Osiran warrior. Such was literally unthinkable to him._

_And then he remembered his friend….._

_Why not him?_

"I…..am still sorting through those memories, Hank. I do not yet have a complete grasp of the chain of events that led to…..what happened."

"Omega….it's normal to sorta miss the way things used to be. The past is all we have, that we can remember. It's hard to take comfort in an unknown future. But evidently, the past didn't suit you totally. Otherwise….." He spread his hands. "Well. Let's just say if you were happy with the status quo, would you be here now?"

"No. I…..see your point, Hank. And please tell Robin he does not need to worry; I will remain loyal to my _friends._" He sighed again, looking up at Hank with a haunted expression. "After all, they—you—are really all I have now."

_To be continued…._


	48. Chapter 48: Instability

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 48: Decisions

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

_Dear readers: please don't shoot me._

Angelique was playing with Charlie when the signal came through. She seemed to be spending a lot of time with Charlie these days, but was not old enough or yet wise enough to see why.

The truth was simple. Charlie needed her.

Her new moms, Delta and Theta, loved her, true, but they did not _need_ her. On the other hand, Charlie did, and Angelique was discovering she liked being needed. So she was playing with Charlie when she detected a small, low-powered signal, in the Bluetooth range, that was of such configuration as to be received by the nanoprobes in Charlie. She'd been halfway expecting it, and had conditioned herself to show no sign of it when she detected it. She really wished she didn't feel so _suspicious_ of Mr. Slade, but for some reason she couldn't identify, she did.

The signal was so low-key that, had she not been alerted to its presence by her mechanical spy-brain in Slade's computers, she might've missed it. But she didn't, and schooling herself to show no reaction, analyzed it.

It seemed to be a standard reset command, fairly commonplace…but why was it aimed at the nanoprobes in Charlie?

She called a momentary halt to the stick-throwing game and sat down with Charlie there in his yard. Again she focused her senses on his internal structure, on the microscopic level. There; the nanoprobes had implanted themselves into Charlie's bone marrow—that might account for his lack of energy, she thought—and had begun to take over certain vital functions. Hm. That was curious. Why would Mr. Slade do that?

She wished he'd asked her first. She could've supplied him with much more efficient nanoprobes, much more sophisticated. But of course, Mr. Slade was an adult and one thing Angelique was growing to understand was that adults simply do not ask children for such things as permission before embarking on some course of action. It just didn't happen. So perhaps this was normal.

Unless…

Unless he had a good reason for not asking her first. Like, maybe, oh, just maybe, something that might hurt Charlie? As it was, he controlled the nanoprobes completely.

She wondered what the probes would've done had they not received the reset command. Was it possible to remove one, isolate it, and see?

Answer: no. The probes were inextricably linked to one another in a kind of miniature internet; removal of one would be certain to be noticed by the group as a whole.

Angelique was aware of a certain growing frustration on her part. Maybe she ought to just march up to Mr. Slade and simply _ask_ him why he'd put nanoprobes in Charlie.

Except that if her fears were true, she might not appreciate a candid answer.

At the Zharkov's: Tara had gone over what she planned to do for about the fourteenth time. What she was contemplating would be very difficult, but she was determined. She had gone to great pains to keep the details from her parents, and from her friends. That had hurt, in its own way; she could've used their support. After all, she was contemplating a rather major change in her life, and change is often scary.

She'd had to call in a few favors, but there was no help for it. She couldn't depend upon the support of her friends or family in this matter. In this, she was acting alone.

She shivered. It was scary.

Omega flew over the city, searching for both any sign of Angelique and any areas around that were in some way blocked, partially or completely, from his senses. He had a hunch that the Thinkers would not be likely to have set up housekeeping close, while Slade would probably be just the opposite. Still, it was only a guess on his part.

Twice he had felt compelled to intervene and stop the antisocial activity Robin had referred to as "crime." In both cases, the perpetrators—one a purse snatcher, the other, a sneak-thief attempting to burglarize a shop—had suddenly found themselves dangling from a streetside light pole, with no idea how they'd ended up there. Neither one was aware of how close they'd come to death that day.

Because as a warrior of Osira, that was how such matters were dealt with. But he realized that they did things differently here than they did back ho-*

_No,_ he told himself firmly, _Not home. Osira is no longer my home. This is home, now._ It behooved him to play by their rules here.

The others were also searching, spread out over the city. Robin, as usual, worked alone, checking in with certain contacts in the underworld he had. Starfire had wanted to come with him, and he felt bad about refusing her, but this sort of thing was best done alone.

Hank and Raven covered the southern part of town, she from the air, while Hank drove around the city streets in his Hyundai. He was learning more about control, and that was of greatest necessity when dealing with his telepathy. It wouldn't do to be overwhelmed by the flood of other people's thoughts.

Raven floated down to his car while he searched, opened the passenger side, and got in. "Ah. Air conditioning." She'd been sweating; the day had turned warm. "You pick anything up?"

"No. From what everyone is telling me, I doubt I'd find any trace of Angelique. She's probably deviated too far from baseline human to be thinking on the same 'frequency,' so to speak. But I also haven't found anything that might be Slade. Not exactly sure what I should be looking for, though; I've never met the man."

"Consider yourself lucky." He had a cooler with some soft drinks on the back seat; she pulled one out and downed it. "He's not exactly mister life of the party."

"So I've gathered. So. The general consensus is he's got four or five Terra clones stashed away somewhere?"

"Maybe not 'stashed away,' so much as living different lives. And they could be anywhere; that's the problem. We were just lucky that one was here, in this city. Otherwise, we'd have never been the wiser."

One by one, the search teams straggled back to the Tower. Omega had found some areas that looked promising, but he stressed that nothing was definitive. "It could be some quality of the Earth's geomagnetic field that obscures these areas. But look…." He indicated a spot on the three dimensional map. "This one is comparatively close to the O'Neill farmhouse. And the farmer was taken by Thinkers; of that, I am certain."

"Hm." Robin was pensive. "It's definitely worth looking into. My contacts were…somewhat less than helpful. Evidently, whatever angle Slade's working this time, he's going it alone. Except for Angelique, of course. But there've been no reports of anybody looking to pick up any cheap muscle." He yawned. It was getting late. "Well. We'll look some more tomorrow. For now, let's turn in."

Out in the hallway, Starfire accosted him. "Robin? Are you…..really tired?"

He thought for a minute. It _had_ been a long day. But, in truth, he felt a bit guilty about the way he'd been, around her, lately. Like he'd been neglecting her. "I could probably go on for a while. But you know? Maybe a good soak in the hot tub would be a good idea."

"Ah. Yes. I see." Starfire looked dejected; she understood that humans normally bathed in private, alone. She'd been hoping…

"Uh, Star?" There was no one else in the corridor right then. "Would you…I mean…" He cleared his throat nervously. "Would you…like to join me?"

Her smile did more than just light up her face, it actually seemed to light up the empty corridor as well. "Oh, _yes_, Robin! I would most definitely like to join you!"

Beast Boy and Terra were preparing for bed. He slid down under the sheets with her, and she snuggled into his side. It was amazing how well they _fit_ together. Like two halves of the same whole, only recently reunited. "So what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" she asked him.

He sighed. "I suppose I'll give Tara a call, get that over with. Then we can concentrate on Angelique and Slade. Goodness knows, those two are enough of a headache, all by themselves."

She was silent for a while. Then," Gar? How did you feel, being around her?" There was a hesitant note in her voice, that he didn't catch until much later.

"Guilty as sin. I felt like I was deceiving her. Which I guess I was, kinda."

She snuggled in closer. "Well, it may be of small comfort, but it worked. You got information that only you could've gotten. Now we have a better idea about what's going on. And it worked out for the best. I mean, I know it's no fun getting dumped, but better she dump you than you dump her. Especially if she has so little control over her powers."

"Yeah, I know. I just still feel kinda guilty." He fell silent for a minute. "I wonder how Robin plans to get her away from Slade's influence?"

"I overheard him telling Cyborg to come up with some sort of robot nullifier, or something like that. Something that could take 'em down without destroying half a city block or something."

"It's gonna be all about timing, I guess. I mean, if we just go in, guns blazing, best case scenario is, it'll traumatize her. Worst case, she'd use her powers to defend what she thinks are her parents. That could get ugly. Real ugly."

"Yeah. Well, I guess Robin's gonna handle that end of it." She fell silent for a long time. Then, "Gar? Are you sure….I mean, would you like me to, to take off this shirt? I, I don't really need it, you know. It's—it's warm enough…" She blushed crimson.

He drew her up level with him and kissed her. "Terra. I want you more than anything I've ever wanted in my whole life. But I want you the right way, at the right time, in the right manner. And it's important to me that you wear white at our wedding. I know, things being the way they are, you could wear whatever you chose, but I really really want this to be special. Extra special, for both of us."

She was still blushing. "Okay. Just thought I'd, y'know, check an' see. And don't you worry about it being special, Mr. Goody Two Shoes. It'll be special. No matter what. You'll see."

He grinned. "Gonna hold you to that." And he kissed her again. "Now, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be another day."

At the Zharkov's: Tara lay in her bed, wide awake. It was way past the time she normally went to sleep by, but she was too keyed up to sleep.

He'd call. Maybe tomorrow. She felt it in her bones. And they'd get together, and she'd…..explain certain things to him. He probably wouldn't be really happy about it, overall, but she hoped he'd come to see the wisdom of her decision.

And if he didn't?

She set her resolve firmly. He wouldn't like it, okay, she was down with that. But he'd see. He'd see that she had only both their best interests at heart. She'd see to it that he understood.

Nonetheless, sleep was still a long time coming for her, that night.

In his room at Titans' Tower, Omega knelt on the floor, perfectly relaxed. His kind did not sleep as humans understood it; rather he entered a meditative state from which he could emerge at any time, instantly ready.

There was something bothering him. For the life of him, he couldn't say what it was, but something in the back corners of his mind seemed determined to get his attention. The only problem was, it wouldn't coalesce into anything definite. The only thing he knew was, it was something involving his friends, his new home, and danger. But from what? And from where would the danger come?

Of course, he had no problem coming up with a list of possible sources, from Slade and Angelique, to the Thinkers and whatever they were up to, to the warriors on Jupiter (and he really needed to see if he couldn't use the matrix to establish communications with them), to some other area or from some other source that had not yet made itself known. But he couldn't shake the impression that it was something right under his nose, as the human saying went.

His kind had racial memory, so that the experiences of his ancestors were readily available to him, with crystal clarity. He could literally experience whatever they experienced, almost as if it had happened to him. But if it _hadn't_ happened to one of his ancestors, well, that was another story, as the humans would say.

Was it something involving Angelique, or the Thinkers? He didn't think so. It definitely wasn't anything involving this "Slade" person; no, this was a fragment of some memory from his previous life; Slade had never been a part of that.

Could it be something to do with the role he'd played in the revolt against the Lords? He was still combing through scattered memories of those events, however; whatever had happened hadn't been pretty. That much he knew.

Something about Thinkers, perhaps? Or maybe something to do with Thinkers and warriors, even? That seemed more likely than not. But what? It was maddening.

…

Friday morning: Beast Boy hung up the phone. "Well, I'm supposed to meet her in the park. Apparently, Pizza Express is still under repair. And this is actually better; more secluded, you know."

"Do you have any idea how long you'll be?" Terra asked him.

"None. But I don't see it as taking all that long, do you? I mean, it's basically a handshake and goodbye; we go our separate ways."

"Well, I guess you'll be back when you're back, then." She kissed him. "Good luck."

In bird form, he flew over the city he'd sworn to protect. He couldn't help but feel a tad guilty about the destruction he and the others seemed to cause as a by-product, but he really didn't see what he could do about that.

In Jump City, as in many other such cities, "superhero insurance" was not a luxury, it was a necessity.

There; down there in the park: a flash of blond hair caught his eyes. Down he swooped, morphing back to human at the last second with a skill born of years of experience.

"There you are," Tara smiled, walking over to him. "No food this time, but I did take the liberty of bringing you a root beer. That's what you ordered last time, wasn't it?" And she handed him the large paper cup full of beverage, with the straw sticking out the top.

"Tara, you are an angel." He got outside half of it in one long pull. "Most people see me flying, and they think it's effortless, but it's not. I still have to use my own muscles for propulsion." He sipped again at the cold drink, feeling it run down his throat like liquid candy.

She sat on a low rock wall. "Well. Here we are." Again, she smiled, a bit nervously, he thought. But why would she be nervous?

"Tara. Last time we spoke, I, I was about to tell you something when, when I was sorta interrupted. I really feel it's something you need to know…."

"In a moment. Would you, I mean, mind if I asked you some, well, some personal questions?" She sat, crossing her legs and waited.

"Uh, no, I don't suppose so." What could she be wondering about, he wondered?

"Well. It's just….I just wonder if you've given your long term goals sufficient thought. I mean, you did say, didn't you, that you wanted to kinda settle down, have a family, things like that, right?"

"Sure. Someday." He thought. In all honesty, he really hadn't given his and Terra's post-wedding plans all that much thought. He knew he, at least, didn't have a chance at a secret identity, not with his green skin and hair. Terra could pass as normal, but not him, not ever.

He sat down beside her. "Perhaps I haven't given it as much thought as I should have. I guess….I guess I wasn't thinking about it in terms of it needing immediate attention, you know what I mean? But you're right; it's something I should give some thought to."

"Weelllllllll," she temporized, "I'm just brainstorming, you understand, but, but maybe somewhere away from crowds of people. Maybe somewhere out in the country?"

"That sounds nice." He relaxed a little, feeling unaccountably tired, and a little light-headed. Flying that far on a hot day sure took it out of a guy. He wobbled slightly on the wall beside her, and she reached over to steady him. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright. Here, maybe we could sit down here." She sat down on the ground with her back to the rock wall, and he joined her, stretching his legs out. "Your drink's gonna get watery."

He took another pull on it, savoring the coldness against his palate. His vision wavered slightly; maybe he'd drunk his soda too fast. "Ter—I mean, Tara. Some…something I think, think you rrrealy oughtta knnnow." His words were slurring; he seemed to be having trouble controlling his tongue. Why was that?

"Yes, Gar?" There was infinite love in her voice. Dimly, he realized Tara had never called him by his given name before.

His eyelids seemed to weigh tons. He couldn't keep them open. "Welll, itssss, it's jus'…..just that I'm, I'm, y'see, engggaggged….." He didn't feel her hand stroking the side of his face tenderly.

"I know, honey," her voice seemed to come from a vast distance , "I know. It's alright, darling. I'm here. Everything's gonna be alright…"

_To be continued…_

_A/N: What th' hell. Go ahead an' shoot me. It was worth it._


	49. Chapter 49: Instability, Part II

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 49: Instability, Part II

_I don't own, you know. Enjoy!_

Robin was making his rounds when his cell rang. _"Robin?"_ said Omega's voice, sounding tinnily from the phone's speaker, _"I am curious. Is Tara Zharkov on any sort of medication besides this metagene inhibitor you mentioned?"_

"Maybe a vitamin, but it's over the counter. Why?"

"_Perhaps it is nothing. I am unsure as to how human biology relates to Osiran, but there seem to be some points of similarity. My own people experimented with cloning, and with forced growth, as a means of replenishing the supply of warriors lost in battle. We encountered problems."_

"Yeah, I know. Cadmus hasn't yet gotten a viable clone to last for more than a few weeks-"

"_We encountered that ourselves. But that was a mere problem of biochemistry. The accelerated maturation process was where we really encountered serious problems."_

Alarm bells started to go off in the back of Robin's mind. "What sort of problems?"

"_In us, the process produced chemical imbalances resulting in mental instability of varying degrees, depending upon the process used and the age of the clone."_

"How…..severe?"

"_Anything from mild mood swings to full psychotic breaks with reality. Needless to say, the process was shelved until such side effects could be dealt with."_

Ye gods. "Omega, where are you right now?"

"_Over highway 17, just to the east of the park. Perhaps I should….discreetly….check up on Beast Boy and Tara?"_

"Good ide—wait, incoming call." It was being routed from the automatic system in the tower itself, there being no one there to take a call. He punched the button to switch calls. "Titans' Tower, this is Robin. Can I help you?"

"_Uhm, I certainly hope so,"_ answered a man's deep voice. _"My name's Zharkov, Todd Zharkov. I, uhm, is Beast Boy there, by any chance?"_

"Not at the moment. Can I take a message?" Robin was impressed, in spite of himself. He knew he was talking to a robot, but it had everything, every inflection, every nuance, every stammer, down perfectly. If he hadn't known better, he could've sworn he was talking to a real, biological human being.

"_Well, you see, my daughter, Tara, was supposed to meet him in the park today, about noon. But it's been hours and there's been no word. Now she's not answering her cell. I guess I'm a trifle concerned. I mean, she's my daughter…."_

Robin felt it best to play along. "I understand, sir. I'll have one of our operatives look into it now. We'll let you know what we find out." He thumbed the switch back to Omega. "Omega? Can you zip over there and check up on-*"

"_I have already done so, Robin."_ Omega was standing by the low rock wall where Tara and Beast Boy had been sitting, already using his senses to analyze the contents of the left-behind soft drink cup. "I think we have a problem."

…..

Robin met with Starfire, Omega, Hank, and Cyborg back at the tower. "Okay, what've we got?"

Cyborg handed him a printout. "Rohypnol, a dash of horse tranquilizer, and a potent hypnotic sedative. Can't tell for sure, but it doesn't look like enough to knock him completely out, so much as to-*"

"Render him into a highly suggestible state. Yeah. About what I figured. So he's probably awake, but not really aware of what's going on. Confused." He looked up as Raven entered the room. "How's Terra taking it?"

"Two words," Raven said, tiredly, pushing back her hood. "Crying fit. She blames herself, you know. Says she should've never encouraged him to meet with Tara."

"She couldn't have known," Robin said, absently. "None of us could have. Omega? You were at the scene. What did you uncover?"

"Thermal impressions indicate that two humans sat there for a space of about half an hour. Then, Tara's cell phone was used." He'd detected the faint trace ionization from its usage. "A vehicle pulled up—a city taxicab, it seemed to be—and they both got in. There was no trace of blood, skin cells, hair follicles, or any form of coercion other than the chemicals in the cup. I followed the vehicle's emissions until they merged with the highway traffic and became indistinguishable from the rest. And I found these." He produced two cell phones, one, Beast Boy's T-cell, the other, a red-and-white rubber encased iPhone, the "missed call" light flashing. "I found these lying on the other side of the rock wall, along with the discarded cup. Not readily in sight, unless someone was looking for them." But that hadn't been the whole story. The two phones had been very carefully covered in pine straw, except for their uppermost edges. They had been nestled neatly side by side, almost, he had thought, privately, as though they were in bed together.

There was probably no good to be accomplished by mentioning that last irrational sense impression to Terra, when next he saw her, he thought. In fact, surely there was no point in mentioning it at all. So he didn't.

Even Osirans have _some_ tact.

"Which way did the cab go, Omega?"

"North. Towards the airport."

…

Hank knew one of the junior air traffic controllers. Ted had confirmed that no major airlines had left during that time period (a minor miracle all by itself), but….three small chartered flights had filed flight plans and lifted off. One was headed for Seattle, Washington, one for Phoenix, Arizona, and one…..

…..straight for Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Land of the Quickie Marriage Contracts," muttered Robin. "Oh, _hell_, no." Command decision time. "Look. Star, you and Raven stay here. Keep Terra together. She can't accompany us on this mission; she's way too close to the issue. And if she went head to head with Tara, the western hemisphere might never recover. The rest of us will head for Vegas. Cyborg, get the T-jet ready."

Las Vegas, Nevada: Time, a few hours earlier. The hotel clerk looked at the petite blond who was checking in. She seemed awfully young, but she had the correct documentation, marriage license, and ID. His was not to question why. "Mr. and Mrs. Garfield Logan? Ah, yes, ma'am. Here we go: the Honeymoon Suite has been reserved for you. Do you need any assistance with anything?" He cast a glance at the figure with the blond; a silent figure so thoroughly draped in hooded garments that he could see no portion of the person's skin at all. A May-December romance, maybe? Well, if so, it was none of his concern.

"No, thank you. We've no luggage." Tara saw him glance at her new husband. "Sorry," she smiled, "my husband is taking some medications. Makes him super-sensitive to light. You know."

"Oh, certainly. An uncle of mine had the same thing once. Well, here's your keys. Room 20-131; it's on the west side, so you'll have a great view of the city."

"Thank you. You've been most helpful." And she led her new husband towards the elevator….

T minus ten and counting. "Rob? You sure we're not overreacting here? I mean, she _is_ only a high schooler…."

"She's also Slade's construct. We don't know, for a fact, that she's doing this of her own, albeit twisted, volition. She might've been somehow programmed to do something like this from the get-go. If so…" He drew a deep breath. "If so—anything's possible. And Gar's life could be in serious danger."

"Oh. Right."

They blasted off, Omega flying on ahead. "Robin?" This from Hank. "We do have legal counsel, don't we?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"

"Gar's what? Eighteen going on nineteen? What's Tara's legal age listed as?"

"Sevent-* Oh, crap." This day just kept getting better and better. He sighed. "I see your point. But let's take this one disaster at a time, shall we? I'll give our legal advisors a call once we've secured Gar. Cyborg? Be calling ahead to the various hotels and motels, give 'em a brief description of Tara—I don't see her as being so far gone as to not realize that Gar's distinctive skin coloration would stand out in a crowd—and inquire about a 'Mr. and Mrs. Garfield Logan.' Tell 'em….tell 'em we need to find 'em for questioning. No specifics. Don't bother with the PD."

"Roger that."

However, in the meantime, the clerk who'd assigned the newlyweds their room went off-shift, and his replacement didn't bother to familiarize himself with those guests already checked in. So when Cyborg's call came in, he quite truthfully stated that, as far as he knew, there was no one using that name at this hotel.

Hours went by…

Tara Logan knew a special kind of peace, the kind that comes from reaching one's destination. It hadn't been easy, and there had been some roadblocks along the way she hadn't fully anticipated, but, hey, she was an honors student. She'd done her homework.

Garfield was hers now, fully and totally hers. She'd made doubly sure of that. A most important part of him was planted deep inside her, and there was no doubt in her mind that it would soon bear fruit. Her new husband might not be quite as attentive as she'd always fondly imagined, when thinking forward to this special night, but that would change. Yes, that would definitely change. There would be time for that.

Because, once he accustomed himself to his new status, of course, she'd see to it that he gave up all those crazy heroics, throwing his life away like that. She would need her husband, and their children would need their father. So he'd have a double incentive to give up that ludicrously dangerous lifestyle.

She didn't quite yet know where they'd live, but her parents had the lake house, and the time-shared vacation cabin. Maybe they could stay there until they got their own place. Both were quite secluded, away from the teeming masses of the city.

Half-asleep, she smiled, naughtily. Yes. Secluded was _definitely_ going to be needed.

Outside the hotel, the Titans gathered. "You're sure they're in there?" Robin asked Omega.

The Osiran glanced up at the building, no doubt using his senses to see through the walls. "Yes. Room 20-131." It made Robin a little nervous, given his relationship with Starfire, but somehow, he just couldn't see the Osiran as a peeping tom.

"What's their status?"

"Beast Boy is, as you would say, 'out of it,' while Tara is currently asleep."

"Alright." Deep breath. "Let's do this."

They took the stairs. At the bottom of the stairwell, just before the 20th floor, they paused for last minute preparations.

The suggestion had been made to simply gas the room. But Robin had nixed that. There was no real telling what chemicals were floating around in Beast Boy's body; any knockout gas could easily interact with that, with lethal consequences. Cyborg had a tranq gun.

"Alright. Hank, you go low. I'll take left, Cy, you go-*"

Omega surprised them by appearing at the top of the stairs. They hadn't realized he wasn't with them. For someone who weighed so much, he was sure light on his feet. "All clear," he said. To their astonished expressions, he added, "The room is secure, the target neutralized."

They filed in, cautiously. Garfield Logan lay on the bed, face up, eyes open but unseeing, breathing deep and steady. Tara lay half-across him, face down, one arm and the top of her bare shoulders showing above the covers, her blond hair spread out over them both. She seemed unconscious, and Robin checked her.

Hank turned to Omega. "What'd you do? Some exotic Osiran technique?"

"No. An exotic human technique I've only recently learned. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch. I saw it on television last week."

Hank stared. "How did you know it would really work?"

Omega looked puzzled. "I am not sure I understand your question. It was on television."

"But—but, Omega! I—oh, never mind." Robin was giving them the "thumbs up" sign; Tara really was out. "But we gotta talk. Later."

…

"Ooooooohhhhhhh." Beast Boy's head was pounding. Dimly, he was aware of Cyborg close by, holding something.

"Easy, studmonkey. Here, drink this."

He drank it. "Ew. Pepto-bismol? What th' hey?" Then, "Eeep! Where are my clothes!" He recognized his surroundings enough to tell he was in the T-jet, wrapped in a sheet.

Naked as the day he was born. "Vic! What happened to my-*"

"Sh. Here. Drink some more. You'll probably need it." Cyborg was in the compartment with him, while Omega floated outside, a concerned expression on his paper-white face. "What do you remember?"

Garfield thought. It took effort; his head was still fuzzy. "I-I was supposed to meet Tara in the park, for, for the big kiss-off." He grimaced, putting his hand to his head, then stared when he saw the wedding band on his finger. "Ah, something tells me things didn't go exactly as planned, huh?"

"Well, not as _you_ planned, no." Robin briefly filled him in on developments.

"Oh, my ever-lovin' God. So I'm Mr. Tara Zharkov now?" A horrible thought occurred to him. "How's Terra taking it?"

"About like you'd expect," Robin said cheerfully. "Screaming, crying, making the Earth shake. Standard girlfriend behavior." He fiddled with a control over his head. "But so far she's handling it fairly well; she hasn't produced anything above class II on the Rictor scale. I've called ahead; she's relieved to know you're alright."

"What about Tara?"

"Good question, Gar. Good question indeed." Robin pressed his lips together.

_To be continued….._


	50. Chapter 50 Damage Control

Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 50: Damage Control

_A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker_

Back at the Tower: Terra flung herself at Garfield as soon as he climbed out of the jet, practically knocking him over. "Gar! You're alright!" she sobbed. Then she took two quick sniffs, and said, in an entirely different tone of voice, "I can smell _her_ _stench_ all over you. C'mon, Gar. Shower time." And she dragged him bodily in the direction of their room.

"Let them go," Robin said, " Give 'em some time by themselves. They have some things to work out, I'm sure. Meanwhile. We have to determine what we're gonna do about Tara. I mean, we can't keep her on ice forever, tempting thought though that may be. Everybody, loosen up, refresh yourselves, and we'll have to see what's what. And, in the meantime, I'll give our legal advisors a call. It's the middle of the night, but that's what they get paid for. She'll keep for a while, won't she, Cyborg?"

"Yeah. I gave her a benzo. She'll be out for a few hours. Plus, she was, uh," a half-smile played around his lips, like a minnow surfacing for food, "a bit exhausted, if you know what I mean. But with a smile on her face."

"Let's…..try not to mention that around Terra. At least not quite that way. Anyway, everybody get refreshed and we'll convene at 0800 hours."

Exiting the room, Hank saw Omega's expression. "Something bothering you, big guy?"

"Perhaps. I am unaccustomed to all this emotion. I am unclear how to react to it."

"Osirans don't have emotions?"

"Oh, we do. But on Osira, the Lords controlled us primarily by controlling our emotions. I am entertaining the notion that we, as individuals, perhaps never learned to control our own, sufficiently."

Hank thought. That was a real possibility. A possibility that raised the spectre of an unstoppable alien warrior in the grip of some powerful emotion he didn't know how to deal with.

Hank shivered at the thought. Aloud, he said, "Well, so far, you seem to be doing good. Just…..keep on doing what you've been doing. But look: if something comes up you REALLY don't know how to deal with, or that you're uncertain of, come and find me, okay? Promise?"

Omega looked at him oddly. Then he held up his little finger on his right hand. "Pinkie swear, Hank." Again there was that slight crinkling of the skin around his eyes that was the Osiran's way of expressing humor.

In Gar's bathroom, Terra swiftly and efficiently stripped him out of the loose garments he'd put on in the T-jet, completely ignoring his protestations. "Devil _take_ your modesty," was all she would say. She actually gave him a shove towards the shower, and began ripping at her own clothes. "Get in, Gar. Go on, get in. I'm right behind you."

….

0800 Hours: the team convened around the conference room meeting table. Gar sat in his usual place, with Terra sitting close by—rather _possessively_ close by, to Robin's eyes. They'd both been in the shower a _very_ long time, and he for one didn't particularly care to know what had gone on in there, except that Gar was still blushing. Terra, by contrast, seemed perfectly at ease.

"The whole marriage is, of course, annulled. Tara's underage, so no marriage is or was legally possible in the first place. But we'll give that to the lawyers to deal with. That doesn't do anything about the very real fact that she assaulted one of our team members. Gar, you had a very narrow escape. A little too much of those drugs, and you might've not waked up. Ever. Plus, there's the little fact of Tara being, I suppose, insane, to one degree or another. After all, there was nothing to keep her from sticking a knife in you at, uh, the, uh, completion of her, uh, activities…."

Beast Boy put his head on his hands. "Please, God…."

Robin shifted. "I've made some calls. Arkham has a juvenile detention facility. The inhibitor collar will work even though she doesn't have any conscious control over her powers…"

Beast Boy jerked his head up. "No! Rob, you can't send her to Arkham!"

"We can't send her anywhere else, Gar. No jail could hold her."

Beast Boy shook his head. "You haven't thought this through. _Yes_, she doesn't have any conscious control over her powers. That'll just make her easy prey for anybody with a neuro suit, like Slade had on Terra." Terra nodded.

"So….you think somebody would break her out, slap her in a neuro suit?"

"Worse." Garfield was grim. He leaned back, crossing his arms. "They'll _sell_ her. Break her out, neuro suit, and then off to the highest bidder. You _know_ somebody would, Rob."

Terra spoke up. "Much as I hate to admit it, he has a point. You put her in Arkham, you may as well advertise her on the front page."

"Plus, the sort of people who'd buy her probably wouldn't hesitate to," and here Gar gulped, audibly, "_use_ her, you know. In other ways. If she wasn't insane before they did all that to her, she would be afterwards. You _can't_ do that to her, Rob."

Robin threw up his hands. "Then I'm open to suggestions. We can't let her wake up, and there's a limit as to how long we can safely keep her under."

Omega spoke up. "If, as I suppose we are assuming, her mental issues stem from a chemical imbalance, that could be corrected, could it not?"

"I….suppose. _If_ we knew what to look for, I mean, what's normal for her."

"Do we not have a template?"

"A template?" Terra was chewing her hair, thinking. Then she noticed everybody looking at her. "Oh, no, you don't! I'm all for the cause, but, but….!"

"C'mon, Terra, " Garfield urged, "she didn't ask for this to happen to her. She's as much a victim as I was. And all we need to do is, find out how her body chemistry differs from yours and fix it. A couple of blood samples. Simple."

Cyborg rubbed his jaw. "Well, it's a _little_ more complicated than that, but, essentially, yes, that's it. It's the only other way."

Terra's look shot daggers at Beast Boy. "Just for that, I'm cutting a year off your sex life. Sounds like you more'n made up for it in Vegas, anyway. Superstud." But a half-smile played around her lips, a half-smile she was quick not to let Beast Boy see.

"C'mon, Terra. Don't be this way. You know I don't remember anything about all that."

She sighed. "I know. It doesn't help, a whole lot. Okay," she said to the rest of them. "What do you need me to do?"

Down in Cyborg's med lab, Terra lay on the med table, a syringe plugged into her arm. Robin was still talking, having called their lawyers back; the others followed him down there. He closed his phone, ending the conversation with the Titans' legal counsel. "Until we know more, or have figured out more, we'll have to go with the line that you were both kidnapped by persons unknown." To Beast Boy's questioning look, he explained, "We don't _know_, for a fact, that Slade _wasn't_ somehow involved more or less directly in this. Plus, this is as much for her protection as yours, Gar. After all, if the facts came out, she could face some stiff charges here: aggravated assault, sexual predation, maybe even rape, among them. DNA evidence will show nobody but you drank out of that cup, and the chemicals in it sure didn't come from any Burger King we know of. Those charges alone could easily be serious enough to require her to be tried as an adult, no matter what her legal age. Plus, there's the distinct possibility that it'd come out, in the trial, that she's a clone. And that begs the question: a clone of who? So you see how it's in everybody's interest we keep this as much under wraps as we can."

"Doesn't seem honest, Rob."

"Technically, it's not, and I'm normally all for truth, justice, and the American way, but in this case, full disclosure has no upside. We've already explored what might happen to her in such a case. You could easily face charges yourself, Gar. I can see some judge asking you what you were doing consorting with a minor in the first place.

"So now we're assuming," he began pacing, "that we can get her body chemistry under control. Cy, you're pretty sure this'll work?"

"Nothing's one hundred percent, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. Of course, she'll still have her own memories…those'll have to be dealt with."

"Yes, next headache. Hank, I don't suppose you could…..?"

Hank shook his head. "I wouldn't dare, Rob. This is still all new to me, and Professor X I ain't."

Raven spoke up. "There….is a spell. It's not exactly amnesia, but the side effects are similar. As long as we don't have to cover up more than, say, the last forty-eight hours, it should work."

"It may have to do. Any more word from 'Todd Zharkov'?"

"He—I suppose we may as well call it that for convenience's sake—called a couple more times, each time sounding increasingly more worried. Robin, are you sure those two are robots?" Raven asked. "I took both calls. Robin, I could swear I felt real emotion coming from this individual. If they are robots, we needn't worry; they'll have secrets of their own to keep, but if they're even partially organic, well, they could react in typically organic irrational ways."

Robin chewed his lip. "Guess we need to make sure. Omega? Can you scan them from here, without being detected?"

The alien had been standing quietly by himself. Now he focused his senses on what looked like a spot on the far wall…..there was a long moment of silence…

"Yes," he finally announced, "they are both fully mechanical. But, Robin, I must say, I am unsure if they are of Slade's manufacture."

"What? Why?"

"They are far too sophisticated. The technology, though unfamiliar to me, is easily of a level with my own people. And that, as you know, is saying a lot."

Robin let out a low whistle. Yes, that certainly did say a lot. "Any idea who could've built 'em?"

"No. There are no clues leading to such a discovery."

Robin sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Be nice to get a break once in a while. Maybe a manufacturer's tag, or a warranty or something. But oh well."

"Cheese Louise," fidgeted Terra, on the table, "Don't you have enough blood already? I've only got so much, y'know."

"One more vial full." Cyborg topped it off, and disconnected her from the machine. She sat up, rubbing around the bandage on her arm. "So," she said, "we basically go with the abduction scenario? I guess we need to get all our stories straight, just in case."

"You all right, honey?" Beast Boy asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. At least until Nurse Feratu here decides he needs to install a faucet in my left arm for more blood."

Beast Boy sat by her on the hospital type bed, putting his arm around her. "Thanks, Terra." At her look, he explained, "For being so mature about all this. I mean, I'm still sorting through how I feel….."

She kissed him. "Mature, schmature. I still wanna kick her scrawny little ass. But," she sighed, "I guess you're right: she didn't ask for this to happen. Besides, it's not like I can fault her taste in men…" This time she went for a longer kiss.

Raven stood up, pulling her hood up over her head. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go prepare the spell. Plus, I'm feeling a little nauseated myself, right now….." So muttering, she drifted out of the room. Hank grinned and followed her.

Robin watched them go. Then, turning back to Cyborg, "Cy, there's another matter to consider. The marriage was, er, consummated, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," Cyborg replied, casting a glance at a blushing Garfield. "I can guess what you're about to ask next. Answer: it's too soon to tell. And we can't keep her under the entire time until then, not without doing her more harm than good."

"How soon will we know?"

Cyborg thought, rubbing his chin. "I _might_ could tell in, say, four days. But best guess for most tests is maybe six to twelve days."

"Well, we'll have to return her to the Zharkov's before then, obviously. I'll explain to them that, since we don't know what happened during this time, we need to keep her checked. After all, a lot of villains are fond of chemical and biological weapons, timed-release and otherwise, and there's no telling what either of them could've been exposed to. Hopefully, we'll catch it before anybody else will. What we'll _do_ about it is…..yet to be determined. But for now, let's concentrate on getting her ready to return home."

…

Cyborg hadn't exaggerated; it _was _complicated process. Not only did they have to check Tara's biochemistry against Terra's, repeatedly, but they had to know how her organs reacted differently, in order to produce these different chemical mixes. Omega's control of the Osiran matrix had come in handy there; a needed change here, a tweak there…..

Tara's consciousness swam unenthusiastically back into her head. It had had some rough times in there lately. As her eyes focused, she became aware of her surroundings: a hospital type bed, with several figures standing around her. Figures she recognized. One in particular. "Beast Boy?"

"I'm here, Tara." He took her hand in his. Terra had quietly left the room.

"What—what happened to me? Was there another earthquake?"

"No. We both kinda got snatched. And drugged. Sorry."

"For…..what?"

"If you hadn't been with me….."

"Never mind that. You—you're alright?" She could still see the last time, the shiny mechanical monster, the blood…..

"Yeah. This wasn't, uh, quite a standard attack. But I'm afraid you got drawn into it. And I hate that."

"Not…not your fault. Have…has anyone notified my parents?"

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Yeah. They're on their way here now. Gotta warn ya: we've both lost a couple of days. Your dad's fit to be tied. And your friends have been inquiring about you, too."

"I bet. So….what happened?"

_To be continued…._

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